The Vultures
by Green Eyes Wander
Summary: In the bone dry lands of the Scorch, a group of teens thrives off of nothing. When WICKED comes to them with an offer they can't refuse, 13 immunes are thrust into the Trials. Pitted against Group A, they must decide what's more important to them, the spoils of success or total freedom from WICKED. SYOC closed for now.
1. Chapter 1

Hello Everybody, and thank you for clicking on my SYOC!

So this SYOC is pretty original... I think, and I'm hoping you guys find it pretty interesting. Let me start off with a little summary:

There were... _complications_ with group B. An "accidental" fire got out of control and ripped through more than half the population before they even began exiting the Maze. The girls are no longer an even match for Glade A and so WICKED needed another competitor to test the ability of the Gladers in Glade A. That's where the Vultures come in. The Vultures have been living off of the resources in the Scorch for 6 years, since they were children, and each one of them has something that WICKED wants. Each of them have survived the Flare. Pretty much all of the OCs will have a similar backstory, they grew up together at WICKED, most of them came around 7. They were part of a failed experiment, when WICKED found out they survived the Flare, they took them into their headquarters and ran test on them for years. When nothing showed them how the kids had survived the Flare, WICKED dumped them in the Scorch. WICKED left them to die, and yet now they need them.

Ok so that's the basic premise of the story. I need 10-12 teens. Now for the rules:

1) Not a rule, but I wanted to let everyone know that I will be submitting my own OC. I don't want to upset anyone or make people mad, but it makes me more invested in the story when one of my own characters is part of it.

2) I will take the same number of boys and girls, you can submit as many as you want, but if there are only 3 boys there will only be 3 girls. Plus your characters can't be in a relationship, but they can be related. However I will probably only take one set of siblings.

3) Surviving the Flare has taken a toll on all of the teens, each one of them has a sort of mutation but nothing major. For example their hair could've gotten a white streak, they are deaf in one ear, or maybe their finger nails turned black. It isn't a large mutation like growing anther arm or having pink hair.

4) Please use diversity, I don't want 5 girls with a bad ass attitude or 5 guys who are overly protective.

5) Follow the form, I'll put it on my profile, and I'd prefer PM

6) Try to give your OC a nickname that has to do with their personality or appearance or something.

7) Not every OC has a specific job, but try to think of a job that you're OC could have in the group. For example Leader, Second in command, scout, chef etc.

8) No one's perfect, so don't make your OC perfect, I want weaknesses and diverse strengths, not predictable or common strengths

9) The Gladers will be in this story, so your character can be related to them, but they can't be in a relationship with them. I want some diversity in the thoughts about the boys. People should have other thoughts other than just "They like newt, they are sarcastic with Minho, they are kind with Thomas". Teresa will not be in the story.

10) I will be excepting one WICKED "spy", some one who travels with the boys but works for WICKED, like Brenda. This person (most likely girl) can end up on the Gladers side.

Here's my OC:

Name: Ira Aelish Richards

Nickname: Green

Gender: Female

Age: 15 to 16 (doesn't know exact age)

Job in the Group: Scout

Mutation: No pupils in her eyes

Appearance: Light blonde shaggy/curly hair passes just past her shoulder blades, pale skin, freckles, small upturned nose, long legs and short torso. Small curves, small amounts of fat, slightly pointed ears. Her most noticeable feature is her big green eyes with no pupil, they are just multi green shaded saucers.

Personality: Green is kind, charismatic, and has a strong sense of humor. She loves to be around people and meeting new people. The Scorch is very bland and totally unlike her. She is positive but can be serious and stubborn when a situation permits. She hates talking about her self or her past but loves hearing about others.

Weapon use/ fighting style: She uses stealth and knives

Strengths (survival wise): Agile, stealthy, observant, good with knives, good aim, strategic

Weaknesses (survival wise): not strong, overly trusting, bad memory, poor stamina

An example of dialogue: "Call me Green... yeah it's weird, I know. But its what they all call me anyway." -Introducing herself

Relationship preferences: Straight. She likes kind guys with a good sense of humor

Other: Wears goggles to protect her eyes when she's scouting

SYOC FORM (It's on my profile as well)

Name:

Nickname:

Gender:

Age:

Mutation:

Appearance:

Personality:

Weapon use/ fighting style:

Strengths (survival wise):

Weaknesses (survival wise):

Background (keep it brief):

An example of dialogue:

Relationship preferences:

How they interact with Gladers:

How often will you review/ give suggestions:

Other:


	2. Prologue

**Hello everyone! Green Eyes Wander here, and I've got some bitter sweet news. I got** ** _so_** **many submissions, and I'm so happy that people are excited about this story! So, I really had to cut down. I took 13 OCs, which is even more than I originally wanted, but the OCs were amazing. If your OC wasn't accepted, feel free to send in a female or male version of Brenda. I will put the form on my profile. Here is a prologue and the character list is below.**

In the dimly lit laboratories of WICKED's headquarters, a lone scientist buried her head into her hands, sighing deeply. The black and white screen in front of her flashed with blurry images of the destruction they caused. Young girls ran through the blazing field, shrieking at the top of their lungs. They crumpled to the ground, clutching their hearts as the flames rip through their homeland. Several have already perished, more will go, and very few will be left standing.

Evelyn cringed as a dark skinned girl howls over the lifeless body of her second in command. There isn't anything Evelyn can do now, the fire wasn't supposed to get out of control like this, but it had. Slowly, she lowered the screen, diminishing the glow of the display on her auburn hair. She can't believe she did this; she burned a whole society to the ground with the touch of the button. It was supposed to be an experiment… another trial, and it had gone completely wrong.

She'd have to tell chancellor Paige about this, and she wouldn't be happy.

Some one had to replace Glade B, and Evelyn knew exactly who would fit.

The Vultures.

 **Later on…**

A million questions ran through Thomas's mind.

 _Where are we?_

 _Where was Theresa?_

 _Where're we going_?

The rat faced, salt and peppered hair man sat in front of the 20 some odd Gladers, the only ones who had survived. He studied his nails carefully as the boys took in all the information he had just spouted off. He had told them all about the Trials, WICKED, The swipe, and even how they first arrived at the headquarters. Now the anxious teens stared at him nervously, twitching and shuffling with anticipation.

After a second of mustering up his courage, Thomas spoke up. "So… what now? Are you going to let us go?" He said, hating himself for even thinking they might be freed.

Rat man snorted, clearly finding the question as ridiculous as Thomas did himself. "No Thomas. You aren't done with the Trials just yet." He heaved a deep breath and pushed himself up. "You'll be headed into the Scorch. Make it through the Scorch, and you're free."

"That's it?" Minho asked, crossing his arms over his chest and raising a thick black eyebrow.

Once again, the Rat man chuckled under his breath, "No, no that isn't it. There's another group, a group of teenagers who have survived the Flare. They're skilled fighters, scavengers, and hunters. Survive them, and you're home free. But trust me, making it past them is going to be hard. We promised them weapons, food, and water if you didn't make it their base. " A screen behind him flickered to life. Scratchy pictures of children flashed in front of the Gladers. Each picture had the same background, a black slate covered by the image of a young child. "These are the Vultures… when they were much much younger. The Scorch has changed them."

The ever shifting pictures glitched momentarily, stopping at the faded face of a young girl. Her pale skin and light hair filled the screen, but that wasn't what held Thomas's stare. Her eyes were big and hopeful, giant saucers, and she was smiling ever so slightly.

"This young woman can kill you in a second."

Thomas swallowed hard. He opened his mouth to speak up, but Minho beat him to it. "What the shuck are we supposed to do? Huh!? Why the hell are you putting us against these guys?" He demanded, rising to his feet.

"It's all for the Cure, Minho." Carefully, Rat man collected his things, straightened out his shirt, and took a seat. "You've got 5 minutes to make it through the Flat Trans. Good luck in the Scorch and tell The Vultures I say hi."

Before the Gladers could even protest, he added five more word, "Oh… and you have the Flare."

CHARACTERS

 **Leaders** : Kit (f) and Ross (m)

 **Medic** : Prez (m)

 **Sniper** : Otto (m)

 **Scouts** : Green (f) Cloud (f) Wasp (f)

 **Builder** : Ice (m)

 **Patrol:** Jay (f) Amir (m) Tate (f) Tyler (m) Glue (m)


	3. The Encounter

**Aight, so here's the first real chapter! Not everyone is in it, but every one will be in the next chapter. Please review and the next will be up in a couple of days 3 Oh and sorry for any mistakes, I'm a relatively poor editor. 3**

"Three hours. Three freaking hours we've been out here. We've literally found nothing. Not so much as a dusty can of soup is boiling in this sun. But we are, of course we have to sit out here in the heat and the sand." Cloud groaned, fiddling with her earlobe. She squinted at the horizon, and placed her hands on her hips.

"Oh, c'mon Cloud, I think this is fun." Green insisted throwing up her arms. Even under the tan bandana covering her nose and mouth, Cloud knew Green was sporting her usual grin.

"The only thing fun about this is the fact that the sand particles in my ears are helping me tune you two out." Wasp spat; speaking the most words she had all day. The three girls were scouts and scavengers, tasked with the job of finding the ten other teens and themselves food. The pack consisted of Cloud, Wasp and Green, some of the Vultures finest… and quietest.

Cloud was a small and skinny girl with black hair, laced by a white streak. She was a bit of an oddball, but they all were out in the Scorch. Wasp was a lanky dark haired girl, with locks pulled back into a stinger braid and a black and yellow bandana covering her mouth and nose. A thin translucent layer covered her eyes, something she called a second eyelid, it was her mutation, and helped her see well in the sandstorms. Finally there was Green, the only one of the three who actually loved to talk. She was average height with a wild mop of curly blonde hair, pale skin and the greenest pupil-less eyes to ever see the sun.

Cloud scanned the ground for somewhere to sit, but gave up, finding a nice patch of orange sand to relax in.

"Y'ok?" Green asked as she pulled the cloth off her nose, letting it rest around her neck.

"I'm just tired of this. We can only scavenge for so long before the Scorch runs out of trash. We can't survive here."

"We can steal from the Cranks." Wasp huffed, sitting her self down, but leaving the bandana over her mouth.

"We could." Green agreed, twirling her hand over the hilt of her dagger. "Speaking of, stay alert. We haven't had a run-in in weeks, and I wouldn't want one now."

Cloud nodded, and pulled her bow and arrow a little closer. She looked up to Green, still standing and searching the horizon. Blonde hair whipped around her face, and the wind beat at her army green jacket. She carried the duffel bag the often held the spoil of their scavenge, but today it was empty. If empty space could feed humans, the Vultures would be rich.

The wind cut at Wasp's skin, but she didn't react. She liked the quiet, both in her mind and outside.

But Cloud had to say something, "It's… it's gotten really windy." She stated. No one responded, but she was right. The blue baking sky began to swirl with orange and red particles as the horizon blurred around them. "Hey… Green. Are you seeing this?" Cloud called.

The blonde nodded, pulling the goggles resting on her head over her eyes and the bandana back over her nose. "Damn, it's gunna be a sandstorm. We really need to get going."

Of course the universe had other plans for the desert dwellers. Through the up and coming haze, a dull medal aircraft broke through the sky. The scouts' shoulders sank as they read the thick black letters.

" _WICKED_." Wasp cursed.

"Cloud, send an arrow to the Base door, give them a message. Tell 'em that WICKED is here." Green ordered. Cloud nodded and grabbed her bow and arrow. She ran about a 100 feet from the other scouts until the wood door of the Base was in good range. She scrawled a quick note, took aim, and let the arrow fly.

It soared into the thick wood with a loud _THUNK!_

 **Right Before the** ** _THUNK!_**

"What do _you_ think we should do?" Kit snapped, raising her voice. She tossed the map she'd been studying aside, and stood up.

"We can _not_ send scouts out separately! Think of everything that's out there! What would they do if they ran in to a pack of Cranks and they were alone?" Ross shot back

"Need I remind you that we ARE cranks?!"

"Woah woah, calm down there, Twitch." The multi-color haired boy whistled, holding his hands out in front of him. "No need to yell."

Kit took a step forwards, gritting her teeth and balling her fists. "Careful Hyena boy. I'm _not_ in a good mood today."

"Hey hey hey. Chill out!" Ross stood from his own chair, rising well above Kit, staring right into her Amber and sky colored eyes. Their planning day hadn't gone to well. It was supposed to be a chance for the leaders to discuss plans and think of how they were going to support themselves for the next couple of weeks. But their opinions differed when they dabbled over the topic of the scouts.

The tension in the room was thick, and the two leaders held each other's gaze for several moments before they were interrupted.

"Um… guys… sorry to… interrupt, but Cloud shot an arrow at the door, it's got a note."

Kit didn't drop her gaze from Ross's eyes, "What does it say?" Ross rolled his eyes and looked over at the messenger. A tall brown haired blue eyed boy stood in front of the pair.

"Give it here," Ross said, "please."

Tyler smiled and placed the dirtied note in Ross's rough hand, "Is everything ok in here?" the tall teen asked simply, not quiet understanding the conflict.

"We're fine." Kit snarled, snatching the note from Ross's hands. She read it over once, then twice, and then once more. Her hands twitched ever so slightly as her eyes skimmed the words.

 _We've got WICKED visitors._

Kit dropped the paper to the ground. "We need to find Green, Cloud and Wasp." She said, "Now." Quickly, she darted about the room, grabbing a cloth to cover her mouth, glasses, and her trusty sword.

"What's going on Twitch?" Ross asked, grabbing for his own machete.

"The scouts said WICKED is here. Get Otto. We need to go."

 **Right off the Berg**

Jason stared at the sand bowl in front of him. He hated coming into the Scorch, he hated the fact that he had more under-boob sweat than a prepubescent teen, he hated that when he opened his mouth his spit turned to sawdust and he hated that his eyes were filled with more crusted boogers than his nose. But most of all, he hated seeing the snivelling faces of the 13 survivors that WICKED just couldn't seem to crack.

He took a dreadful breath in and stepped into the Scorch.

The first thing he saw when he adjusted to the sand, was a skinny girl with wild blonde hair, earth toned clothes, and the strangest pair of goggles any mad scientist has ever seen. In one hand she held a knife, and in the other she balled her fist.

Behind her, two more figures manifested. Neither one seemed as bold as the first, but both looked as intimidating. One was tall with dark braided hair, and a black and yellow bandana over her lips and nose. The other was small, with black hair laced by a white streak. Each carried a weapon, and each had their vision dead set on Jason himself.

"Hello there Vultures!" Jason called, holding out his arms and throwing them back down, feeling very self-conscious about his growing pit stains.

"Hey Rat man!" the blonde called cheerfully, before instantly remembering that Jason was the enemy and composing her self. Jason sighed at his nickname and carried on, nearing closer to the group of girls.

"I'd like to talk to all the Vultures." He said when he was about 5 feet away.

"Green, Wasp and Cloud." Green introduced, clearly being the most talkative of the 3.

"Could you take me to your leader?"

"And how do you know I'm not the leader?" The goggled girl asked. Her hand etched its way to a rusted dagger hanging loosely from her belt, she took a daring step forward and carefully removed her goggles. Jason was looking into the most terrifying eyes he'd ever seen. They were a swirl of different shades of green with absolutely no pupils.

He gulped, "Careful girl, I've got four guards in that ship with snipers trained on your heads."

"Green." Ross's voice called, "stand down."

The attention turned to a few teens behind them, Kit, Ross, Otto the sniper, and the great green giant, Tyler.

"What the hell are you doing here Rat man?" Kit demanded, pulling out her sword and pushing her way to the front.

"I've got an offer you can't resist, Twitch." Jason sang. Ross grabbed Kit's arm before she could even react. Kit hated it when people she didn't like called her by her nickname, no one called her Twitch but the Vultures.

"What is it?" Ross asked, staring daggers into the old man's grey eyes.

"Can we go some where nicer to talk? Maybe a place with less... _sand._ "

"Not a chance." This time it was Otto, the groups best marksmen. He had his gun trained on Rat man's face with out a sign of resilience.

"Otto is right," Ross agreed, "we're staying here."

Jason sighed. "Fair enough, I guess we can talk here. In 24 hours we will be commencing the second part of our latest Trials. 23 boys will be placed into the Scorch. They will be given no resources or information on how to survive in here. When they come past your base they will no doubt be looking for food and shelter. WICKED asks only one thing from you, don't let them get out of here. Do your best to keep them in the Scorch and then we are prepared to give you a years rations and 5 new weapons."

"Like we would do anything for you for one measly year of rations." Kit spat. "We do fine scavenging, isn't that right Green?"

The blonde nodded, patting the clearly empty duffle bag.

"I believe you." Jason lied, "How's 2 years?"

"What exactly do you want us to do?" Ross asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Kill them?"

"Take them in, befriend them, make them feel welcome here. And then, when they want to leave, keep them, steal from them, injure them even. You can kill the ones that seem useless to the group if you'd like. Mess with their minds and bodies; show them the horrors of the real world. Do this, and we'll give you what we promised." Said Jason. For a second, no one said anything. The 7 nomads stared at the WICKED worker. Their faces scarred, their eyes mutated, their skin tanned and covered in the desert's dust. They were kids he had tortured and they held lives in their bodies that he had ruined.

Ross took a deep breath in and looked at Twitch, the person he trusted most in the world. She stood several inches shorter than him, and yet she seemed larger than life itself, and more powerful to. Her jaw was set, her eyes un shaking, the only part about her that seemed innocent was the faded dent of the dimples he only got to see when she smiled. She looked back at him with a slight tic in her eye, and nodded carefully.

"We need to think about it." Ross said.

"What the hell Ross!" Cloud asked, "We can't do this." She jerked forwards, but Otto grabbed her and held her closely to him with his free hand.

"Let it be Cloud." He whispered.

"No, Ross is right," Kit stated, "We need some time to talk things over."

"I can give you till the end of the day." Jason replied, "Take this walkie talkie and buzz in by sunset. You can give us your answer then."

With out another word, Kit spun on her heels and stalked off into the sand storm, followed closely by Ross, Wasp, Otto and Cloud. Tyler waited patiently as Green pulled her goggled back over her eyes, cursed under her breath and spat at Jason. "Kill your self Rat face." She hissed. "But… but have a nice day." She said, letting her instincts take over. With a unintentional smile, Green and Tyler fell in line behind the others.

"It was nice seeing you Vultures!" He called to the pack, earning himself several middle fingers.

As they walked towards the Base, none of them could believe that they might just get involved with WICKED again or that they were considering tormenting others the same way WICKED had tormented them. But hey, they were the Vultures, vultures do what they must to survive.

And these 13 in particular, refused to die.


	4. The Decision

**New chapter! Thank you for the amazing reviews, seriously, they were awesome! Everyone is in this chapter a fair bit :) Let me know what you think and I hope you like it! Gladers are coming soon!**

As she looked into the fogged up piece of cracked reflective glass, an unfamiliar face looked back. Short blonde hair and tanned skin, freckles and a defined nose. Dark eyes that became lighter in the center, a greenish color with hazel speckles. Thin with subtle but strong muscles.

She sighed and grabbed the half empty bottle of water, pouring some into her hands and splashing it on her face. Not wanting to look at the face any longer.

The bathroom could barely fit one person at a time, it had a hole for the toilet, a pot for a sink, and a piece of glass stuck to the wall for a mirror. The floor was gross, but what could anyone expect with seven boys in one house. But, the walls were thick, and that's what Jay needed at that moment.

Outside the Vultures bickered over what to do about the Janson's offer. It was an argument that wasn't going anywhere. The group was divided into 3 sides, those who were for it, those who were against the offer, and those who didn't have much of an opinion at all.

"Jay, could you hurry up?" Tate asked.

Jay tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and glanced up at the girl in front of her once more, "Just give me a second Freckles."

She took a deep breath in and pushed open the sorry excuse for the door. As Freckles hurried in, Jay could hear the sounds of the arguing starting up again. Over the noise, you couldn't hear any individual voice, they all just shouted over each other like crazed 3rd graders.

Jay walked to the side of the main room where the Vultures were sprawled across various pieces of broken down furniture.

"Is it worth it?" Some one demanded.

"Could we live with our selves if we did this?" another asked.

"Well we can't live at all if we don't have food."

"We can't possibly voluntarily _help_ WICKED!"

Jay sighed, leaning against a wall and crossing her arms over her chest. "If we are going to argue like 3rd graders," She boomed, "then I'll solve this like a 3rd grade teacher."

The talking stopped. Kit rose from her seat, looking Jay dead in the eye. " _You'll_ solve this?" She asked, clenching her jaw.

"Mhmm, that's right Twitch." Jay nodded, "Every one goes around and gives their opinion, then we vote and the majority vote wins."

No one responded for several seconds. Each of the teenagers was thinking the idea over. It was a bit degrading, but it was truly the best idea Jay could think of.

Finally, Kit unhinged her jaw enough to let a few words out, "It's not… a terrible idea."

"And hey," Green piped, "Everything said in a British accent like Jay's is probably a good thing!"

Jay pursed her lips, "um … thanks Green?"

"You are welcome."

"Any how," Ross said, moving on, "I honestly think that's the best plan we've come up with so far. Let's try it. Any one volunteering to start?"

A brown skinned lanky boy with a mop of black hair and a glued together ring and pinky finger raised his mutated hand.

"Give it a shot Glue." Kit dared, flopping back down into her seat.

"I think we should do what Rat man asked. I mean, two years rations. _Two years._ We can only last so long, resources are running out. Plus, some weapons would be nice. Half of us use rusty machetes, and the other half use rusty knives! We _need_ this." Glue said, looking around the room. "Life gave us this opportunity, we can't turn it down."

"Life didn't give us anything." Jay spat under her breath.

They group ignored the comment and moved on, "I'll go next," Tate called as she opened the bathroom door. Tate was the twin sister of Tyler; the two were polar opposites. Tyler was the kindest of the Vultures, challenged only by the friendliest, Green. He was tall and skinny with strong observation skills and an even stronger heart. Tate, or Freckles, was short and muscly, with brown hair and blue clouded eyes. She was lean mean fighting machine with an appetite for impulse. Her mutation fogged over her eyes, giving her poor eyesight and making her brother extra careful with her.

Before she could continue, Tyler shot up and ran to her, grabbing her hand and leading her to an open spot next to him.

"Thanks GG," She smiled, trying to hide the slight embarrassment she felt. Getting help was not exactly Freckles' forte. "Anyway, as much as I love food and weapons, I can't possibly be ok with helping WICKED, and that's what this all comes down to."

"She's right, WICKED needs us, and we can't give in." Amir, other wise known as Fox, added. He was a patrol, just like Tate, Tyler, Jay, and Glue. Their job was making sure the Vultures and the base was safe, and Amir was pretty dang good at it. "Us helping them is just as bad as us forgiving them for what the put us through."

Jay shuddered at the memory. Florescent lights, blaring alarms, rough tissue paper robes and food not fit for a dying rat. WICKED didn't deserve them, and she sure as hell wouldn't help them.

A laugh sounded from the opposite corner of the room. Jay rolled her eyes as Prez, the group's blue-eyed medic, prepared to give a lecture. He stood up and took a deep breath, stepping closer to the circle, "We are survivors. We survived sun flares, we survived WICKED, we survived the freaking Flare! No one has done that. _No one._ " He paused, catching the eye of each and every vulture. "But with out food and water and weapons, we will _not_ survive the Scorch. For years we have thrived here and for years we've made a mark. But our legacy won't live on unless we do, and to live, we must have the things that WICKED will provide to us. I don't plan on dying soon, and I know that none of you are either."

Several of the group members nodded, taking his words in.

"What a speech." Whistled Ice.

"Hey hey hey!" Jay cut in, "That's a bunch of crap. No offense Prez, but we don't need to crawl back to WICKED on our knees. We can and we will survive. It's what we do. It's in our blood. We can't let WICKED control us again and the second we turn on that walkie talkie, we know they've won. So when we vote, let's take a second to think of what they left us wi—. "

That's when she began to feel it. When the Vultures got the Flare, each one was left with a mutation. A part of their brain got screwed up and stayed screwed up. For most, it was a mutation in the eyes, for some it was something physical, and for an unlucky few… it was head pain from hell.

"Ok… so then lets vote." Ross said, "all in favor of helping WICKED say Aye."

The pain cut through her scalp, etching it's way to her brain.

"All opposed say nay."

She choked out a brief nay as her vision turned foggy with agony.

"Well then there's a winner,"

She took a sharp breath in, each thought she had burned.

Ross announced that they wouldn't be helping WICKED, that they'd keep their freedom and their dignity. But of course, the universe _always_ has other plans.

Ice wasn't quiet; he was just preoccupied. As the Vultures weighed pros and cons, and made defying statements, Ice was dissembling and reassembling a flashlight. He carefully studied the wind up handle and thick glass. It ran on kinetic energy like most of the appliances he'd build, and he was rather proud of it.

 _THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!_

It wasn't the noise from the door that pulled his attention from the project; he could ignore loud noises. It was the very faint gasp from Jay, a groan of agony escaped from under her breath; Ice could not ignore the well being of his friends.

"Jay?" He whispered as she wavered, "Are you ok?"

 _THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!_ Two things about that knock scared even the toughest of the Vultures shitless. Number one: It was more like a series of crazed thuds in a sick rhythm. Number two: only two different people knocked on the Base door, WICKED and Cranks. Seeing as WICKED had just come that day, it was probably the latter.

Everyone reached for their weapons; Ice's hand etched over to the Louisville slugger bat he found buried in the sand a couple of months ago. It was big and sturdy and could break a few skulls when it wanted to.

"Someone go open the door." Cloud hissed.

"Yeah, go open the door Cloud." Fox hissed back.

"You're part of the patrol."

"You've got that nifty bow to protect yourself."

"I'll get it," Ross said in a normal voice, pulling out the Machete strapped on his back. He took in a deep breath and reached carefully for the metal handle. With a creak, he pulled steadily. Ice gulped, he looked over at Jay. Her pale hands were shaking; she looked around the room desperately for a place to sit.

"Oh Shit." Ross called. At that moment he knew he'd messed up.

From out side, a shrill voice sounded off.

"Hiya Hyena nose!"

A small man with patches of hair torn out and wild black eyes busted past Ross. His fingernails were sharpened and stained red, his lips were blue and his skin was grey and sagging. He was a Crank, and where there was one there was many more.

"Holy shit! Kill him!" Tate screamed, grabbing for her axe.

Green was the first on her feet, she sidestepped past the man, pulled out her smallest dagger, spun around, and hurled it into the back of his head. Blood poured from his mouth while the man stumbled on top of Jay. The dirty blonde girl finally broke. The pain split through her head and she screamed, vomiting over the dying man and passing out.

"Jay!" Ice yelled, running over to her. He caught the frail girl as crumpled to the ground.

"Is she ok?" Tyler asked as he and Prez ran over.

Eight more cranks busted to the door, knocking Ross to the ground and trampling over him. A large one swatted Green aside like she was a fly. Kit pulled out her sword, slashing at a tall black-eyed woman with surprisingly nice red hair. Wasp unsheathed her large hunting knife. Quickly, she darted around to the enemy's picking a tall sack of a man to prey on. She grabbed hold of his mop of black hair and yanked it backwards, exposing his neck and slicing it open. Wasp kicked his lifeless body to the ground and moved on to the next victim.

"Tyler! Go help the others, you to Ice." Prez ordered, "I'll watch Jay." He knelt down and carefully placed her head in his lap. Her headaches were common; they just always seemed to come at the worst time.

Cloud took a bit longer to react than the rest. As more and more cranks spilled into the Base, she snapped to it. She snatched up her bow and notched an arrow. She aimed precisely as Crank prepared to smash a rock deep into Glue's skull. The arrow flew into his eye socket and fell right out the other side. Glue looked up, his dark eyes sparkling in her multicolored ones.

 _Thanks,_ he mouthed.

Ice winced as blood splattered across his pale t-shirt and the Crank man fell to the ground with an imploded head. He moved on to the next one, ducking as Kit swung her sword over his head.

Green backed away as an armed man slashed his rusted blade at her.

"Dance Blondie!" He cackled. He lunged but she stepped out of the way just in time. His blade grazed her arm and she yelped in surprise. He flung himself around again and stared her down, licking his lips like a rabid dog.

Fox stepped in front of the green-eyed girl holding his machete out forcefully, "I gotcha Green." He promised with a crooked smile.

"Jesus mama Christ!" Otto cursed as a Crank woman dug her nails into his skin. He couldn't use a gun inside the Base, so he punched her in the nose and kicked her to the ground. The blood oozed from his tanned skin, but he wouldn't bother Prez now. Laying below him was a sickly looking Jay that clearly needed help.

A short little man and two women jumped on Tate, pulling her out of the Base by her curly brown hair. She flailed and screamed but couldn't get free. Tyler ran after her, leaving Wasp to fight a two cranks alone. He got a hold of one woman, but she gave him a hard smack to the jaw, sending his blood all over the floor. The other two ripped at Tate, clawing at her arms and legs. She screamed out in pain, and tore her self away from them.

Tyler got up again and charged the craze pair. "Get off of her!" He screamed, pouncing on to the man and freeing his sister from the Cranks.

"Let's finished this up Vultures!" Kit yelled, slicing through a shoulder. She flipped her hair to the side and stabbed into a soft Crank. Blood sprayed from its mouth and it screamed in agony.

A thick fist sailed into Fox's nose before he could blink. He dropped his weapon and stumbled back, knocking Green down and stepping on her hand.

Ross took on a couple of Cranks alone. The first one barred his teeth, but Ross barred them right back, his canines were extremely sharp. The second lunged, but Ross was too quick, he spun around and blocked him, kicking the Crank to the ground and smashing at the second one with the hilt of his machete. The first clawed at him again, making marks on his arms that he didn't even notice. With a grunt and a large cleave, Ross cut through the Cranks, leaving them to sink to the floor.

Ross staggered a bit, and looked around. The Vultures were exhausted, 13 of them, at least 25 of the others. Most were dead on the ground, a few scrambled around, and one or two kept on fighting. The Vultures were worn and beaten, but they hadn't lost.

"Screw these crazy Cranks!" Cloud yelled, sending an arrow into a skinny throat. A particularly loco infected human being set its sights on Prez and Jay. Jay was sitting up now, but still slurping in long breaths like oxygen was water and she'd been in the desert for weeks. Cloud watched for a second as the crank clicked its tongue and sucked on its teeth. Then it sprinted towards the medic and his patient.

"No you don't ass hat." Cloud whispered. She shot him to the ground just as he zeroed in on his target. It took three arrows to take that one down.

They were beginning to feel overwhelmed. Ice knew they couldn't last much longer. With the sun more than half way set, the Cranks would need a place to camp out, and this was perfect for them. Then it hit him; Ice knew what he had to do.

He jumped over a chair and flung himself onto the couch, grabbing hold of the flashlight. He quickly looked up, needing some protection. "Green, Fox, cover me." He ordered. The two obliged and ran over, ready to protect Ice.

"The hell are you doing?" Fox asked Ice with out looking away from the Cranks.

"It's a diversion, a trick even." He explained, "I just need to make the light last a bit longer."

The builder tinkered away, but time was running out. 3 more Cranks spilled in the door and the Vultures were tiring out. A pack of 3 or 4 began to hone in on Green and Fox. Green hurled a dagger at one, and unsheathed her big knife, targeting another. Fox stayed close to Ice, making sure the he was ok.

"Any day now Ice." Green called just before getting a nice smash in the nose.

Ice tinkered for a few seconds longer before shooting up, "I've got it!" He screamed. He stood up on the couch, turning on the light and winding it up. Around him his friends fought a loosing battle. No matter how skilled they were, they couldn't win. Ice took a deep breath and pressed the big black button at the bottom. The flashlight blinked to life with a very blinding glow.

The icy blue-eyed teenager almost dropped the device, but he squinted a bit and pushed on through. "Lookie here Cranks!" He yelled, waving the light around.

"Nose with a light?!" A crank called.

"Nice nose, nicey nose!" another yelled out.

The Cranks perked up and so did the Vultures, every one was wondering what Ice would do, and honestly Ice didn't know what he was exactly planning.

He inhaled.

"Well follow me!"

Ice jumped off the couch, pushed through the crowd and sprinted out the door.

"Ice what are you doing?!" Kit demanded.

"No idea!" He yelled back, busting out the door. For a moment, Ice ran with out looking back. He let the wind whip through his blonde hair and his feet slap against the sand. Finally, he looked back, surprised to see that almost all of the Cranks had followed behind him. At that point, the panic began bubbling up. What the hell was his plan? He scanned his surroundings, the only coverage in sight was a turned over trashcan.

He faked left and cut a hard right. As Ice was running he chucked the light and threw himself behind the trashcan. He crossed his fingers, hoping to any God there was that the Cranks were stupid enough to keep going.

Wasp's knife buried its way into the last breathing crazy person in the Base. It shriveled up as if it had been placed on a stovetop and whirred in pain. Wasp smirked; pulling the blade out and wiping it clean on her pant leg.

The Base fell silent except for the sounds of panting and heaving.

"Damn, oh damn that wasn't." Glue whistled, poking his toe into the twitching body of a fallen Crank.

Kit ran her hand through her sweaty hair, pushing it aside. The nerves and the adrenalin enhanced her twitch; her hands shook and so did her eyes. "Where's Ice? We need to find him."

"I'm sure he's fine," Tate sighed, as Tyler cleaned her cuts.

"I'm going to go find him," Ross stated.

The door swung open, "It's fine I'm here." Ice called. He was covered in dust and sweat, but he was fine.

Green ran to him and flung her arms around his neck, "I'm so glad you're ok!"

"Um… thanks Green." He smiled, giving her a small hug back.

Kit sighed in relief and jogged over to Ice. She gave him a light squeeze on the arm. "What the hell was that?" She said, her expression hardening.

"Sorry Kit. It was a crazy idea." He admitted.

"Well it worked," Ross said, patting Ice on the back. "Thank you. Is every one ok?"

There was a chorus of groans and halfhearted yes's. The Vultures licked their wounds, but they were still alive. Ross took in a deep breath and looked around.

They got lucky, but luck runs out.

The night, as every one laid asleep, Kit crept from her cot, taking light steps in the dark. In her hand she held the small black walkie-talkie, it seemed heavier now, like a weight she hadn't held before. She slipped into the Scorch and took a deep breath of night air. The stars were out, and they were beautiful.

"What're you doing Twitch?" Some one asked from behind.

She sighed, "I have to do the right thing Ross." Slowly the brunette turned around to face the other leader. "Today was… terrifying. We need this." She said, motioning to the black box in her hand. "You can say no, but I really don't think there's a better option." Her words were rushed, and her voice was panicked. Her hands twitched more than usual.

"Hey, calm down there." Ross insisted quietly. "I think contacting WICKED is the right thing to do."

Kit smiled and let her shoulders drop. "Alright, then I'm going to dial them."

"We won't regret it Twitch," Ross promised, "The Vultures _survive_ , we always have and we always will."


	5. The Meeting

**Sorry for kind of the long wait! Hope you like this one, I had a ton of writers block :( Next chapter might take a couple of days. Shout out to all the reviewers! Seriously guys, I love them soooooo much! Hope you like this chapter! Read and Review!**

 _"Hi Peyton. How are you?" Chancellor Paige asked in a flake sincere voice._

 _Jet swallowed hard, digging her nails into the cushioned arms of the chair she'd been politely ordered to sit in. She'd heard her name booming over the intercom, but still she had no idea why the Chancellor personally requested her._

 _"I'm fine Chancellor." She lied._

 _"I'm glad to hear that Jet… I can call you Jet right?"_

 _"Yeah, it's what my brother used to call me."_

 _"Well Jet, I have a favour to ask of you. You want to help WICKED right?"_

 _"Of course, I owe my life to WICKED."_

 _"Great," Paige smiled, "I knew we could count on you." The blonde women paused as the florescent lights of her office flickered. "WICKED needs you to pretend. We need you to pretend that you are a Glader who took part in the Group B trials. We need you to enter the Scorch, lead the Gladers to the Vultures and make sure that the Scorch trials are a success."_

 _Jet blinked, taking in the information. "I'm sorry… you want me to go into the Scorch? Unarmed? And untrained?"_

 _Paige shook her head as if the very notion was insane. "Jet Jet Jet." She tisked, "We can arm you with a bow and arrow, and you don't need training. You'll be perfectly safe."_

 _"Wasn't another girl supposed to do this? Bella?"_

 _"Brenda. Yes, Brenda was supposed to be our eyes on the inside, but the Vultures are a much more difficult task. We need some one with…_ aggression."

 _"Aren't the Vultures extremely dangerous?"_

 _"I'm sorry Mrs. Ellis," Chancellor Paige spat. "I'm not sure I see what the problem is."_

"Jet! What's your problem huh?" Minho called, snapping Jet out of the daydream.

"Sorry," She apologised, "I was just thinking."

"Yeah, well think later. Storm's coming."

Jet looked up at the sky. Sure enough, the clouds grew dark with rain and the wind ripped at their skin. They had to be close to the Vultures base, she didn't know how long the Gladers could last in a Scorch storm.

"We need to find shelter." Jet said, standing up from her rest break. She offered a hand to her sheet partner; he was a tall boy with short black hair and brown eyes. He introduced himself as Dana, and he'd been a faithful sheet sharer.

"Do you have any ideas on where to go?" Dana asked Jet.

She opened her mouth to respond, but Minho cut her off.

"If she's really a Glader like the rest of us, then she doesn't have clue. But if she's lying—"

"Cut it out slinthead." Newt cut in, "She said she's a Glader, we've got no reason to not trust her."

Minho inhaled sharply and looked to the 20 boys. "We need to move it. We can't be out here when the lighting comes again."

They'd been in the Scorch for a day and already lost 3 boys, Jet knew they weren't ready to loss any more.

The sky lit up with lighting as it shot to the ground. Jet nearly jumped out from under the sheet as the thunder cackled behind it. The wind laughed at them, beating its self on their tatter clothes.

"Let's go." Thomas suggested. The group began moving a bit faster, heading in no particular direction, or so the Gladers thought.

By the time the Base came into view they'd broken into a full sprint. It was a concrete building, two stories high with boarded up windows. Two feet of sand buried the sides of the structure, almost reaching the windows. The top floor had chunks of ceiling taken out and slabs of wall falling off. In the front window, Jet caught sight of a sniper rifle.

The Vultures were watching them already.

"Let's hurry up!" Minho called over the thunder. Minho and Dana were a few steps ahead of everyone else, but Jet, Thomas, and the others were right behind.

They were 100 feet from the Base when it happened.

The sound rang from all directions, but the bullet sank deep in one direction, right into the thigh of a certain tall British blonde Jet knew.

"Bloody hell!" He screamed, sinking to the ground.

"Newt!" Minho yelled. He and Dana turned on their heels and ran back to their friend.

Jet was the first to him, holding tightly on the wound to stop the bleeding. The dark red liquid caked her hands and her stomach did a flip. Newt squeezed his eyes shut staggering his breath.

"Shuck! Shuck!" He cursed, rocking back and forth.

"What the hell do we do now?" Thomas demanded.

"We can't go in there!" Dana screamed pointing at the house.

Jet thought quickly, "We-we have to. We need to get out of the lighting."

"No way." Minho said, looking at Newt with worry. "We aren't going in there."

"Damn Steel! You actually shot him!" Fox yelled.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." Otto cursed, "shit I didn't want to. I thought I should. Fuck."

"It's ok, we can figure it out." Tate insisted. The three of them sat up on the roof, watching the group of Gladers crowd around the injured boy.

"What the hell Steel?" Kit yelled as she pounded up the steep concrete steps. "We just kill people now?"

"He isn't dead." Fox whispered.

"Not the point," Kit snapped, "They are gunna leave now!"

Ross pounded up the stairs next, followed by Tyler and Green.

"What's going on?" Ross demanded.

"Steel shot a Glader."

"Solid work there Steel." Ross smiled, "but shit, why?"

"I just kinda slipped… I don't know what happened."

Tyler shook his head, "What do we do now?"

Ross looked around the room carefully, his eyes landed on a pair of mad scientist goggles. "Green. Green can go."

"What? Why?" Green asked.

"You're the most diplomatic of us. Convince them that it was a mistake and bring them in here."

Green looked at Kit, Otto, Tate, Tyler and Fox. They all shrugged, except Kit.

"Yeah… I mean, it's not a terrible idea. It could work."

"Um… yeah… Ok. Yeah I can do this." Green nodded, smiling. "I'll go right now."

As the girl ran down the steps Otto clenched his fist. "Ross, Kit, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to."

"It's fine. It's fine." Ross said, "It's part of the intimidation thing. Just put that pin-point aim to use and keep an eye on our girl, ok?"

"Ok."

Dana chewed on his lip. Below him, Newt writhed in pain.

The Gladers were at a cross road now. They couldn't turn back, and they couldn't go forwards. They were stuck.

"Lets get him up." Thomas ordered, "Let's turn back. I saw a trash can back there."

"So we all just crowd in there?" Newt yelled, clenching his teeth.

"Calm down Newt." Jet whispered, "shhhh."

"Hey, who the hell are you?" Dana demanded, standing up and catching sight of a small figure.

Not even 10 feet away stood a thin girl, with large goggles and wild blond hair. She held a large dagger, with several others strapped to her thighs. Dana clenched his fist and stalked towards her. Thomas, Jet and the others stayed with Newt, but Minho followed close behind.

The girl met them in the middle with a broad smile on her face.

"Hello." She sang as lighting flashed behind her. "Call me Green." She called over the thunder, "That's what they call me anyway."

"And why the hell do they call you that?" Minho yelled back, not quite sure what was happening.

The girl reached up and slowly pulled her goggles off. Two bright green saucer sized eyes stared at the boys. Neither one held a pupil of any kind.

" _Holy shuck."_ Minho hissed, backing up.

"What do you need Green?" Dana asked, looking back a Newt cautiously.

"Storm's coming," Green reminded them, "It's safe in our house."

"You just shot Newt!" Dana yelled.

"I didn't shoot you.. but I am so sorry." Green said sincerely, she peaked out from behind the boys, "I'm really sorry Newt." She sighed, "It was a mistake, a huge mistake. Please, we want you in the Base."

Jet piped up, "We need a place to sleep."

"Cool it girlie," Minho snapped.

"Please, please come with me. Please." Green insisted. "Trust me, you all need this."

Dana looked at Minho, "What do we do?" he whispered.

Lighting darted to the ground, lighting up the sand.

Newt screamed in pain.

Dana looked at her intensely, "No shucking funny business." He threatened.

"None. I promise. I swear no funny business at all."

"Why the shuck would you do this for us? Huh?" Minho yelled. "We've had nothing but hell rain down on us for all our lives. No one ever _helps_ us for shucking free!"

Green swallowed hard, "I like making new friends. Alright? I won't kill you in your sleep or anything. The only thing crazy about me is my eyes… and maybe my hair."

There was a long pause; Minho stared into the green eyes of the girl standing a few inches below him. "Shuck. Fine. Fine, we'll go with you."

Green laughed and leaned in for a hug, only to compose her self and pull her goggles back over her eyes.

"That way. Knock on the door three times, that means you're not a Crank."

Minho nodded and motioned for the boys to follow him.

Green walked over to Newt, bending down and offering him a hand, she pulled up the goggles once more and looked him right in the eye.

"I'm really sorry this happened to you. Nothing like this will _ever_ happen again."

Dana and Thomas lifted Newt to his feet and ushered him towards the Base. Green didn't follow immediately, she just watched as they walked away. Just as she was about to follow, the blonde boy looked back at her. He didn't say anything, but the look was soft and accepting.

Green smiled slightly and looked down.

She made friends easily; she loved to make friends.

To bad she was going to have to watch these ones die.

Three loud raps on the door, Ross pulled it open, and allowed 20 _complete strangers_ to enter his home. His home. With his family.

Ross cursed WICKED under his breath.


	6. Welcome to the Base

**So, honestly this is kind of a transition chapter. The next couple of chapters will take place in the same time period and each will focus on specific Vultures developing relationships with different Gladers. I'm really excited for the upcoming chapters, but I had to write this one to put everything into context.**

"Who are you guys?" Ross asked as if he didn't know. He was staring at the dirtied faces of 20 boys and a girl. They looked helpless and desperate, and a storm brewed overhead.

"We're with Green. She said we could come in." A tall Asian boy stated with an emotionless expression.

"Green?" Ross called, "Come over here."

A mop of blond hair popped its way forward. Green looked up at Ross with an expression that almost looked guilty; her big green eyes bore into his.

"I thought these guys could use some help." She confessed.

Ross sighed, "Alright, you can come in—" Before he could finish Ice and Otto leaped forward, slamming the door shut. "What the hell?" Ross demanded.

"We agreed that we wouldn't do this," Tate hissed.

"There isn't another way," Kit whispered, stepping forwards, "We need the supplies."

"So then what's the plan? We're just gunna invite them in an kill them?" Ice demanded quietly.

"We give them a couple days here, and then we'll have a… change of heart." Kit said. Lighting flashes seeped through the boarded up windows and thunder cracked in the distance. "And for Christ's sake, they'll die if they stay out there." She pushed her way forward and pulled open the door. "Come in."

Tate rolled her eyes, "They'll die if they come in here." She whispered to Ice and Otto.

The teens of all different shapes and sizes piled in to the main room of the Base. Some took seats on the furniture, others stood in the corners anxiously, and a choice few darted off to the bathroom.

"Well then…" Kit trailed, "Welcome to the Base. Care to introduce yourselves?"

The Asian boy looked around the room defiantly, "Name's Minho, and we're the Gladers. We in some sort of trials right now, it's all WICKEDs doing."

"We know WICKED," Ross said, faking empathy, "We've been up close and personal with them far more than we'd like." He paused, "Well, we can have introductions later but—"

"You shot Newt." Minho said.

"Um… well…"

"We have a very talented Medic," Kit said, stepping in, "How 'bout he looks at him."

Prez stepped forwards at took Newt's weight from Dana, leading the injured boy to their makeshift doctor's office.

"Anything else?" Kit asked.

A new boy stepped forward, he had short brown hair and blue eyes, "Thank you for letting us stay." He said, shooting a threatening look at Minho.

"Ok, well if no one else is going to interrupt me I was going to say that—"

"What the hell is going on!?" Jay yelled, storming into the Base from her patrol.

"Jesus Christ." Ross sighed.

"Jay can we talk in the other room?" Kit asked quietly.

"No we can't. What the hell are you guys doing here? Huh?" She asked gritting her teeth and looking right at Minho.

"Oh you're angry? After you shot one of us?" Minho demanded, stepping very close to the girl. "I don't think any of you desert birds in the position to be complaining right now."

"Damn right I'm angry. You shouldn't be here. We don't want you here, and we are being kind just by letting you continue to breathe!"

"WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULD"VE THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE YOU ANIMALS SHOT AT US!" Minho yelled, stepping dangerously close to Jay.

Kit knew what Jay's temper looked like, she jumped forwards to grab her, but it was too late. The dirty blonde cocked her fist and sent it flying right into Minho's jaw.

"What the shuck?" He cried, clutching his face. He quickly recovered and loaded his own punch, but Dana and Thomas grabbed him just in time, pulling him away from the girl. Jay looked around, every one was staring at her. Kit looked like she was ready to explode, and Minho did to.

She sighed, "Name's Jay weirdos." With that she stormed into the kitchen.

"Minho, I'm sorry, she's just angry with me and she's taking it out on you. Stuff like that doesn't usually happened here." Ross apologized. "You can go see Prez to if you'd like."

"I'm fine," Minho spat between gritted teeth. "Where are we staying?"

"Upstairs. You guys can sleep up there." Kit said.

"I'll show everyone if you'd like." Cloud offered.

"We're fine." Thomas said, following Minho and the others up the stairs.

When the Gladers were out of earshot, Kit let a string of curse words exit her lips, many of wich were directed towards the Gladers and Jay.

"What was that Jay?" Kit demanded.

"He was being an ass," Jay called from the kitchen. "I won't let him talk to us like that. No matter what deal _you_ made, I won't let him insult my family."

"So you punched him! What are we supposed to do now?"

"Calm down Twitch, it's going to be fine." Ross said, "I've got a plan."

Jay entered the room with an apple in her hand, "Does this plan involve me?"

"Yes it does Drama Queen, now sit down an listen up. Ok, Fox, Cloud, Freckles, Ice, and Glue, you're in charge of keeping them entertained, keep their mind off of the punching and the shooting. Wasp and GG, you two and I are going to go out to the storage spot and get some more water jugs. Kit, you start cooking dinner, get some of the Gladers to help you. Jay you need to make sure that the girl with them is ok, let them know you're here to help, no hurt. Prez, you go ask if any of them are injured. And um… Green make sure the one that got shot doesn't die." He paused, holding each gaze for a second. "Does every one understand?"

The 12 teens nodded, a few frowned, disappointed with their job, but no one complained.

"We know it's gunna be hard, but act nice." Kit said, before dropping her voice, "It's only for a couple of days."

"Every one knows what they have to do?"

They all nodded again, a few grumbled yeses, but all understood. They had jobs to do.

"They can't possibly expect us to sleep here, can they?" Jet asked, tossing her sheet to the side of the empty second floor. "I mean, it's a safety hazard. There are literally chunks of wall missing. I could fall through the wall by accident."

"Really, you might just fall 40 feet forwards?" Minho asked, "Really Jet?"

"Chill Minho, I was just saying it's scary."

The tall Asian boy rolled his eyes and addressed the group as a whole, "Just find a space guys; get settled in."

The Gladers moved through out the top floor, finding spaces that looked the most secure to sleep. Minho wiped his hand over his brow slicking away the sweat that traveled down his forehead. He knew he couldn't trust the Vultrues, they shot Newt for shucksake, but they'd run out of options, the Gladers had no where else to go.

Thomas came up behind the Leader, "What's the plan Minho?"

"Stay here for a little bit, sleep, eat, keep to ourselves, and leave. We have a week left, a couple days here and then we're gone."

Thomas took a deep breath, "Yeah, that sounds ok. We can do that I guess. And if we need to… we could ask the Vultures for help. Like food or—"

"We aren't asking them for help."

"Ok. But what about Newt? One of them shot him. A bullet in the leg. We can't just let that go."

"We aren't going to, we need more than an apology, but we can worry about that later."

Thomas opened his mouth to respond, but a pounding sound came from the steps.

"Dinner's going to be ready soon," Tyler said as he walked up the concrete steps followed by a handful of Vultures. They piled into the room with out a heads up, scanning the faces of the Gladers.

"Kit's making dinner," Fox told them, "She was wondering if anyone wanted to help her."

Minho crossed his arms, "Hey Fry, wanna help with dinner."

There was a moment of silence before a tall dark skinned boy lumbered over to the crowd. "Of course I do," He said almost giddily, "Where's the kitchen."

"Down the stairs and to the left." Tate said.

"Can I help to?" Thomas asked, "There are a lot of people; I think Kit could use a few extra hands."

"Yeah, sure." Tate nodded. "You can go now if you want, I think she just started."

Thomas smiled at the short brown haired girl and motioned for Fypan to follow him down the stairs.

Wasp cleared her throat, "Ross was also hoping for some volunteers to help get water with Tyler, him and me."

"Ross is the boy with multicolored hair, right?" Dana asked.

"Yeah… that's him."

"Oh, well yeah I can help, carrying water sounds… fun."

Wasp gave a questioning look but didn't respond, she just nodded and signalled for him to follow her. The two walked down the stairs to find Ross and Ice.

Jay spoke up next, "I'm supposed to help…" She frowned, "Jet? Jet's your name right?"

The Glader girl nodded, "Yeah. What are you helping me with exactly?"

Jay crossed her arms and leaned all her weight on one leg, "If I knew I'd tell you." She yawned, "Just follow me… or don't. I really couldn't care."

"Ok…" Fox trailed, quickly changing the topic, "The rest of us are here to keep you company."

"What are you doing?" Minho asked.

"We are just going to have some fun." Tate smiled.

"Fun, it's been a long time since we've had _fun."_

"Perfect," Fox chuckled, "Then you all won't have high expectations."

"Bloody hell!" Newt yelped, "Would you stop that?"

"Sure, go ahead and get an infection. I don't give a shit." Prez offered, pretending to walk away.

"Sorry. Sorry, it just hurts when you poke around like that."

Prez sighed and walked back over to the injured boy, taking Newt's thin injured leg back into his lap. "It's gunna hurt. You were shot in the leg. That hurts." He went back to doing examining the bullet whole, looking very closely at where the metal entered and exited.

"What's you name again?" Newt asked.

"It's Prez, but you don't have to remember that. Hell, I'll give you a big fat kiss on the lips if you survive more than a week. Not because of the gun shot, but because this place is crazy." The Medic didn't even look up from his work, he continued on bandaging the leg after deciding that the wound was a clean cut.

"… ok…" Newt trailed, not quite sure how to respond.

After several moments of silence, Prez looked up at the boy just to make sure he was still conscious. He found the blonde staring at some one across the room.

"What are you looking at?" Prez asked harshly.

"Oh, I just can't stop staring at the girl's eyes. They're so…"

"Terrifying?"

"Beautiful. They're so beautiful. What's her name again?"

"That's Green. We've all got some sort of eye thing going on, well, most of us do."

"Really?" Newt asked, looking genuinely interested.

Prez thought for a moment before continuing. "Yeah, I mean it's a side effect. Each of us has some sort of mutation as a result of our brains going haywire for a few days. Apart of us got broken and we'll never be able to fix it."

"Wait… what happened to all of you?" asked Newt.

"Oh yeah, none of you Gladers know." Prez replied, "I suspect Kit and Ross will tell the other one soon. All of us, each Vulture, we survived the Flare. We're the only documented humans to do so."

Newt raised his brow, "You bloody shanks, you lucky lucky shanks."

Prez finished the wrap and placed Newt's leg on the ground, he kept a straight face as he responded, "Not lucky, just tough as nails. Now go hobble some where else. You should be able to stay alive… for now."

 **I'm travelling for the next couple of months, so updates are going to be a tad scattered. I'll try to post after I get off the plane tomorrow. Hope you liked this story! Shout out to all reviewers, TheLittlefirefly, .poppins., theevilsquiddancer, Kassidy10, AsgardianGrizzly, Embers to Ashes, LegactyIntegral, minhosgirl, Nefertam, WizardDemigodGladerGateKeeper, Scar Lucifer Xaren, and TheTroubleMonkey. Thanks so much 3. Oh and shout out to Embers to Ashes for the punching idea, hope you liked it!**


	7. Apologies and Sandboarding

**I'm so so sorry for the long wait. There's so much going on with me this summer so I can't promise ferquent updates, but I'm preyy pumped for these next couple of chapters. I had fun wrtining these so I hope you enjoy reading them! Shout out to reviewers and .poppins for her new story, and my thoughts are with your uncle and your family, I'm so sorry that's happening. Enjoy this and please review!**

In the beating deathly heat of the real world, ten teenaged nobodies stood on top of the largest dune the group could find.

"So you call this sand boarding?" Zart asked, raising a skeptical brow.

"Mmmmhhm," Fox smiled, "That's what we call it."

"And is this really worth all the trouble we went through?" Zart asked again.

Fox seriously contemplated the question and its answer. He, Cloud, Ice, Glue and Freckles spent 30 minutes sneaking 5 Glader volunteers, including Jeff, Winston, Zart, and a couple others that Fox didn't know out into the Scorch. When fox offered to do something fun with them, most of the Gladers turned their offer down due to being freaked out, exhausted, extremely angry, emotionally traumatised, fearing for their lives, previously committed to another job, or recently shot. The few that wanted to come didn't quite understand what they were getting into until Fox showed up with a box that he was planned to sneak them out of the Base in. Of course, Tate quickly shut that idea down due to its illogicalness and stupidity. Instead, Tate just stood watch as the others slipped out.

"Yeah," Fox nodded, "I'd say it's probably worth it."

"Eh, maybe not. But probably." Cloud said honestly.

At that point, Fox pulled out four surfboard shaped things, each made of different scrappy materials and stuck them firmly into the sand. "The game's simple, four people race down a dune, the winner or the only one left standing… well they win…"

"Ok." A short Glader boy said, stepping forward and placing his hands on his hips. "How do you do it?"

"Ever been surfing?" Glue asked, shoving a board towards the boy.

"Um… no. I've never even seen the ocean."

Ice spoke up, "It's pretty simple, just put both feet on the board, hold your arms out, and do your best to keep your balance. Either way, it won't hurt if you fall, sand is nothing like concrete... or stone... or whatever you all had in the Glade."

"So what… do we like practice or something?" Winston asked.

"C'mon! That's lame. Just try it!" Tate urged with excitement brimming on the edges of her cloudy blue eyes.

"I'll try it." The small boy volunteered, "It sounds… fun."

"Perfect!" Glue exclaimed pulling a board out from the sand. He pushed the boy on to the board and sent him sailing down the dune. Tate, Fox and Cloud pulled the remaining boards out from the ground beside them and followed right behind.

At first the boy's screams were rooted with deep horror and fear but soon, as he gained his balance, the screams grew to hollers of joy. He whipped down the hill, picking up dust and sand particles with the back of his board. Of course it was only a matter of seconds before the sand overtook his board and he flipped onto his face, but he popped up smiling.

"That was awesome!" The boy called.

The Vultures on boards skidded to a halt next to him, clapping as he did a small victory dance.

"Who's next?" Glue asked. His eyes scanned the faces of the Glader boys. For the first time since they had arrived, they didn't seem distrustful, tired, or afraid. The Vultures had made them happy, and Glue had to admit, he was having fun to.

"Anybody need medical attention?" Prez asked halfheartedly.

The 10 or so Gladers left upstairs looked at Prez vacantly with out giving a reply. They seemed tired and some what hungry, no one looked even strong enough to stand up and give and answer. After a few moments a pale boy stood up, with a dead set look in his eye.

"If anybody here needed medical attention, I'd know about it." The boy stated, jabbing a pale finger in his own direction.

Prez raised his brow, "Really, then why'd I deal with the one that got shot?"

"Maybe because your people were the ones that shot him." He retorted.

Prez nodded, taking his point in. "What's your name Glader?"

"Clint."

"You a Medic?"

Clint shrugged, "Medjack, but I guess it's the same thing. You?"

"Not officially a doctor. My dad was this amazing surgeon, he even operated on a fancy politician. The guy had a tumor right in the middle of his spine. I picked up as much as I could from him before he… um… yeah. Anyway, what's your story?"

Clint pursed his lips, internally deciding if it was safe to talk to the tall brown haired Vulture. Finally he decided it was ok, "I don't remember much before… well I don't remember anything. When I came up they didn't have anybody to take care of sick or injured people. I was actually doing a job as part of the job trying week when Alby got a deep cut on his hand trying to fix some pipe in the bathroom. He was just going to bandage it up but I showed him how to clean it out and stich it up. After that they made me the Keeper of the Medjacks."

Prez nodded, "So you're good?"

"Well… I was the best in the Glade."

"Do you know how to do stitching and setting and all that?" Prez asked, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, I had to make a make a splint for a boy that… fell off a wall a year back. He broke his leg real bad; I thought we might have to cut it off. But I made a great splint and I fixed it up."

Prez remained emotionless for a second, taking it all in. After a moment a smile spread across his face, "That's impressive." He admitted. "The worst I've ever dealt with was a broken rib. Well, and there was the cut that Otto got on his wrist but that wasn't much of a challenge."

"So you like it? Fixing people and all that?"

"I think I'm one of the lucky people here. Most of the Vultures get stuck with a job they're some what good at, but I got stuck with a job that I love."

Clint looked the tall Vulture up and down. "You're alright Medic."

Prez nodded, "You too, Medjack."

Minho was outside just outside the Base. He was leaning against one of the boarded up windows with his arms crossed and a stone cold look in his deep brown eyes. He didn't even turn his head when the door creaked open, only one person would come talk to him now.

"What do you want?" he asked harshly.

"I wanted to apologize to you. I apologized to the other guy… the one I shot. But I just wanted to let you know that it was impulsive and kind of stupid." Otto said, walking towards Minho.

"Kind of stupid huh? Just a bit?" Minho asked sardonically.

Otto looked down and grit his teeth, "Yeah… yeah that wasn't smart either. Listen, I just want you to understand that what I did was an accident. The Vultures, we aren't like that. We aren't going to hurt you all." He lied through his teeth.

Minho continued looking out over the horizon, "People tell me that all the time. They always say I'm safe, they say I don't need to worry. But they're liars, all of them."

Otto flinched at the Leader's words. He hated that fact that every word he spewed was a lie, but what could he do? If he told the truth he'd put his whole family in danger. "I'm sorry about that to Minho. I'm really sorry." He said honestly. "I wish that everyone was could be more hoenst."

With that Otto turned on his heels and headed back to the Base. He pulled open the door and took a step inside before Minho replied.

"It's not your fault Otto. I make stupid mistakes to... sometimes."

Jay mouth was running a mile a minute. It wasn't that she loved to talk; it was more that she hated awkward silences and she wanted to get her time with the Glader girl over as soon as possible.

"This is the important part, the whole reason I had to give you this dumb tour. This here is our medical closet. And this, this is shelf that holds all of the _feminine_ products."

"What?" Jet asked.

"Like your tampons and your pads and you extra underwear and what not."

"Oh, thanks." Jet said with a nervous laugh, "I was kind of wondering what you all did about… y'know… _it."_

Jay peered at Jet for a minute, slightly amused by her discomfort towards the topic. "None of the Vultures have actually got ours in a while, I think the last one to get it was Tate, just about a year ago." Jay scowled at herself, upset that she was comfortable giving away this much information to a foreigner.

"Dear God, why?"

Jay sighed, "Lack of food, lots of exercise, extreme amount of stress, you know the drill."

"That's kind of terrifying." Jet admitted.

"Eh, it's kind of nice. We keep these here just in case… I don't know. Things could change." Jay shrugged, stepping out of the closet and motioning for Jet to follow.

"Thanks for helping me Jay, I know you didn't have to do this."

"Oh I did." Jay scoffed. Jet's shoulders drooped. "But it wasn't that bad. You're all right Jet."

"You are to. And I'm glad you punched Minho, some one had to."

Jay chuckled, "Well I'm happy to be of service, punching him was great. But I do feel bad," She trailed, "I hit him pretty hard."

"Don't worry, he can handle it. I've wanted to hit him harder than that several times."

"And why is that?" Jay asked, crossing her arms.

Jet pursed her lips, "None of the boys have been exactly… _welcoming._ They all have these extreme trust issues, and I guess they don't really count me as one of their own still. Minho's the worst about it. He just really cares about his people, and he doesn't count me as one of them."

Jay frowned as genuine feelings of sympathy filled her, "That really sucks Jet." She paused, "I'm—I'm sorry."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. All I'm saying is he deserved that punch."

Jay smiled, "Well I'm glad I did it for you. Now C'mon, let me show you where the girls hide the chocolate."


	8. Questions and Answers

**Hey everyone! Sorry the updates have been few and far between. I'm sleeping in hotels and traveling almost every day so it's hard to get my hands on internet. I loved writing this chapter, it gets a little more personal and a bit deeper than the last one. As well, the relationships here are more focused on individuals rather than groups. Ok well tell me if I'm moving to fast, I think I got a bit carried away... ANYWAYYYY, I love this chapter and I hope you do to.**

Outside the Base, just a few 100 meters off, was the buried storage room that held any of the food that had to be kept a bit cooler. That storage room is where Ross, Dana, Tyler, and Wasp trudged towards on the mission to get a couple of water jugs.

Wasp walked 50 feet ahead, scouting for any signs of Cranks, her blade held firmly in her hand. Ross and Dana had stricken up a rather distracting conversation, making them blissfully unaware to the dangers of the Scorch. Finally, Tyler followed aimlessly behind, a machete in hand and his blue eyes wandering over the dunes and tracing the horizon.

"Actually, I was a Runner in the Glade." Dana admitted to Ross. "I tried to find the way, I thought I was pretty darn close until Thomas found it in the exact opposite place I was looking."

"To bad. You were a Runner? Really?" Ross asked, "I wouldn't have pegged you for a fan of danger."

"I'm more a fan of adventure, and helping my friends."

"Ah, I see." Ross nodded.

"What about you, what do you do at the Base?"

"I don't know, like make plans, keep people in order, make sure everyone is well enough fed and is happy."

"So you're kind of like the leader?" Dana asked with a slight smile.

"Yeah," Ross chuckled, "I mean… I guess I am."

"Hey!" Wasp called, "It's over here!" She peered at the boys over her black and yellow striped bandana covering her nose and mouth.

"We should probably catch up to her." Tyler suggested from behind the other boys.

"Should she go in there alone?" Dana asked as the dark haired girl slipped out of sight.

"Wasp is fierce, I'm not worried about her." Ross said, chewing on the inside of his lip. Tyler nodded in agreement. Despite that, Ross picked up the pace. His eyes focused on the tall dark haired girl as she disappeared into the storage room.

On the inside, Wasp scanned her surroundings. The room was an underground hollowed out cave with wall made of clay and compacted sand. In one corner sat jars of preserved food and prepackaged snacks the Vultures had agreed to keep safe in an emergency and in another sat 11 or 12 large jugs of water. When they found the raided Costco, the one thing the people couldn't take was the 15-pound jugs, leaving lots of extra for the Vultures. The only issue being that all 13 of them had to carry as much as they could for 7 miles back to the Base.

Wasp had no flashlight, Ross had that; the room was pitch black other than the soft glow coming from the hidden entrance. She carefully lifted her second eyelids in order to get a more clear view. The storage area was something she knew by heart, but when her toe sunk into a squishy substance she nearly yelped in surprise. She jumped back, covering her mouth and slightly embarrassed by the noise she'd made.

The substance, or more like the some _thing,_ groaned and shifted loudly on the floor. Wasp quickly pulled out her knife and slunk into a corner, making herself invisible to the thing.

It was clearly relatively human; she could tell by the way it tried to pick its self up, but the thing moved like a drunken man. As soon as it was on its feet it crashed in to a stack of jars and stumbled in to the water jugs.

"Emma? Are Emma here?" It asked in a somewhat feminine voice, like an old woman who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. "Help me Sweetie, I'm hurt."

At the sound of the name Emma, Wasp nearly tripped over her own feet. It had been almost 5 years since she'd heard her real name. It was probably just a weird coincidence, but she couldn't stop staring in the direction of the lady.

"Wasp? You in here?" Tyler called. Ross, Dana, and Tyler bounded down the makeshift steps, the small florescent glow of Ice's wind up flashlight darting about the dark room.

The room lit up as the 3 boys entered.

Sprawled across the heaps of cans was a wrinkled girl with black eyes and surprisingly nice red hair. Wasp recognized her almost immediately; it was one of the cranks that had attacked them just a few days ago, one that Kit had slashed her sword through. The girl was clearly hurt, they could tell by the way she stumbled about clutching at her side with a bloodied hand. She was probably almost Gone, but there seemed to be some emotion left in her beady black eyes.

Ross and Dana lunged forwards, prepared to fight. Dana held up his fists while the leader reached for his machete, but it was no use. The Crank wasn't being threatening. She wasn't going to attack; she needed help.

"Please Emma," the girl asked, reaching out to Wasp. Wasp looked around, making eye contact with the boys. When she noticed their faces lacked in recognition, it occurred to her that the boys probably didn't even remember her real name. She was one of the few Vultures that solely went by the nickname she was given when they first met up.

She didn't have time to react because Ross darted forward, machete in hand. She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists, waiting for the sound of slicing and splitting of flesh.

Instead she heard a loud shout, "What are you doing!" Dana yelled, shielding the Crank Woman.

Ross knit his eyebrows, "What do you mean? This is a Crank."

"You can't just kill her. Move her outside or something."

Ross opened his mouth to shoot down that idea, but Wasp spoke up. "H-he's right Ross. We should let her live." Wasp had no problem with killing, but coincidence or not, that girl said her name just as Wasp entered the room.

Ross looked around, making eye contact with Tyler to see what side he was on. "This is crazy! Right GG? I mean we can't let her live. She attacked Kit like 4 days ago."

"I'll take her out side," Tyler volunteered, scooping the crazed girl up with ease. He lumbered out of the room and headed off to set her down out in the Scorch.

"We can't actually be doing this." Ross muttered to him self, sheathing his machete. "Grab some water jugs, we need two." Dana walked forward and grabbed a jug, and Wasp did the same.

"I didn't mean to over rule you Ross," Dana admitted, heaving the jug over his shoulder. "I just—I'm not a fan of killing or um… hurting."

Ross pursed his lip, "It's fine, I just get really protective of my family. But, I guess you're kinda right. She wasn't hurting anyone."

Dana smiled, "Thank you."

"We ready to go?" Tyler asked, popping his head back into the storage room.

The boys nodded and stepped out, ahead of Tyler and Wasp. As Wasp followed behind, Tyler grabbed her elbow gently.

"Did that girl know you?" He asked, looking genuinely interested.

"What do you mean?" Wasp asked.

"She knew your name. She said 'Emma'"

Wasp raised her black eye brows, "You remember my name?"

"Of course I remember!" He smiled, taking the jug from her arms. "Now C'mon let's go."

Wasp smiled, "Thanks G."

*BREAKLINE*

 _CHOP!_

"Are you ok?"

 _CHOP!_

"Wanna talk about it?"

 _CHOP!_

"Kit?"

 _CHOP!_

Kit was fed up with Thomas's non-stop questions. She'd sent Frypan out to ask Green to find the carrots, and he hadn't come back yet… he was probably caught up in a half an hour long conversation about his life.

"You know, I'm sorry about everything that happened today, with all the invading of privacy and blaming and what not."

Kit continued to chop up the canned potatoes, attempting to make them look appetising.

"We've just had a hard week, that's all." Thomas went on, earning no response. "The trials have been awful, and right before the Scorch started… I lost my best friend."

Kit stopped chopping and looked up at the boy's sad eyes. He was sincere and truly upset.

"She was taken by WICKED a little less than a week ago. It was so hard, not just because I lost her, but because there was no closure. I have no idea where she is or if she's safe… or even still alive. I can't do anything to help her… it's the worst feeling"

Kit didn't respond, but she did place the knife down.

Thomas looked at the stove, the brims of his eyes watering. "Sorry, you didn't need to hear about that. You wouldn't understand."

"Thomas," Kit sighed, "I actually completely understand."

Thomas sniffed, "Really?"

"Yeah," She admitted, "When we arrived in the Scorch, we were so young and terrified. It was _six_ years ago. The oldest of us was a girl named Michelle, but we called her Saph because of her sapphire blue eyes. She was 14 at the time, the youngest, Green, was probably only eight or nine. Saph was this tall African American girl with more confidence in her pinky than any of us have in our whole body. We would've followed her anywhere. I looked up to her more than I looked up to any one else. This one time she beat down a WICKED guard and stole their gun. But after a few months of living in the Scorch, she was convinced she was getting the Flare again. She told us that she was going Gone.

"One night she got me out of bed and asked me to kill her, she told me that she had a dream the she ate Glue and Cloud and she wouldn't let that happen. The Flare effected us all, but… but she couldn't handle it." Kit breathed.

"I'm so sorry Kit." Thomas whispered.

Kit gulped, she wouldn't show this outsider how Saph had realy effected her. She wouldn't do that. "We found her out in the storage room. She used one of the bullets in the WICKED gun to shoot her self in the head. She left two bullets for us. We still have the gun."

Kit bit her lip, asking her self why the hell she was telling the Glader boy this. She took a deep breath and ran a shaky hand through her wavy dark brown hair. "The reason I told you this is… I never got any closure. She lost it and there was no way I could help her. Everything I did, all that I tried, all of it was useless. I couldn't save her from her self."

Just then, Thomas made a very risky decision. He leaned forward and pulled her into a deep hug. For exactly 4 seconds, Kit let Thomas comfort her. She breathed in his warmth and let her self feel safe in his arms.

"Get the hell off me." She whispered after exactly 4 seconds.

"Thanks for talking to me Kit."

"Don't count on it again." She smiled. "And this doesn't mean I trust you. These weren't emotions, they were just facts."

*BREAKLINE*

"Alright, thanks for talking to me Fry!" Green called, as the dark skinned cook walked back to the kitchen. He waved to her and ducked into the room with Thomas and Kit. "What a nice guy." The blonde girl smiled, looking back to Newt.

"Yeah, he's great. I'm not sure I would've been that bloody interested in the history of his love for wooden spoons rather than metal, but sure… he's nice."

Green continued to smile, adorably oblivious to his sarcasm. "Ok, now back to you. Tell me something else."

The two of them had been sitting on the couch in the main room for the last hour, going over the detail of what Newt could remember from his life. Of course he left out the darker parts, but he'd been pretty thorough other than that. He had his injured leg propped on a pillow, and Green was sitting across from him, her own legs folded under her.

"I've literally told you everything that I remember. Tell me something about yourself."

Green cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips, "I'm not a big fan of talking about my self. C'mon tell me more about you."

"Green… let's start with something simple. I'll ask you basic questions."

"What if it's to personal? I really don't like to talk about my self."

"If it's to personal you can just say 'no', alright?"

She sighed, "Fine, ask away."

Newt smiled with victory, "Alright. Where did you grow up?"

"North Carolina."

"See, not so hard." Newt smiled.

Green laughed, "Don't push it."

"What were your parents names?"

"No."

"Really?" He asked, surprised by the secrecy of her parents' names. Green crossed her arms and nodded, "Alright," He surrendered, "What did your house look like?"

"No." She said.

"Ok… did you have any siblings?"

"No."

"That's really to personal? Ok… what did you want to be when you grew up?"

"No."

"What was your favorite food?"

"No."

"Did you ever have a boyfriend?"

"No."

"What was your favorite thing to do?"

"No."

"Who was your best friend?"

"No."

"Oh my god." Newt surrendered, "I give up."

Green frowned, "I'm sorry, I just don't know you all that well."

"Have you told _anyone_ this stuff? Like any of the Vultures."

She thought for a second, "No. I don't think so."

"Ok, fine I have one last question. What's your real name?"

She smiled, her green eyes twinkling, "No."


	9. Labeled Property

**Hey Guys, so I just wanted to give a shout out to the reviewers last chapter! Please Review, seriously is makes me so much more inspired, I got less than usual last chapter but thats ok, I take no offense. I would also like to add that even though I feel that I've given pretty equal screen time, please please let me know if you think your character doesn't have a big enough roll. I've entered far to many SYOCs where my character is rarely even mentioned so please let me know if you feel that way. Anyways, I hope you liked reading this chapter as much as I liked writing it!**

As the sun slumped below the horizon, Kit handed a stack of plates, forks, cups and 100 percent of her trust to Glue, Jay, and Fox.

"All you have to do is set up places for 36 people." She told them, "You can do it anywhere in the Base, but just make sure there are 36 places."

Kit had put to much faith into the trio.

Glue had a hard time holding the plates. After 4 minutes he promptly broke 3 with in the span of 26 seconds. Jay could not have been less excited, she showed her disgust and boredom by throwing kitchen knives at the wall. Fox, in an attempt to appear suave, carried the cups in one hand before tripping over an untucked chair and letting the cups topple to the ground.

Kit face palmed, "Are you kidding me?" She sighed as she bent down to pick up the fallen cups.

Glue blushed bashfully, "Sorry I broke those plates Twitch; I'm not good with holding things." He said, motioning to his mutated hand.

The dark haired girl sucked in a deep breath, swivelled on her heels, and began working on plan B.

It was pitch black by the time dinner was ready. The light of the silver stars shone through the cracks of the boarded up windows and wind sang softly through the air. Sand swirled in the nighttime as the howls of lost Cranks and the faded smell of daylight wafted through the base.

Kit, Thomas, and Frypan had prepared a lovely meal of Raman noodles, chopped baby carrots, canned beans, and Twinkie halves for desert. The teens served themselves quietly and took seats all over the Base. The groups started off relatively segregated, Gladers on one side and Vultures on the other. After a couple minutes Jay stood up and walked over to Jet.

"How are you liking the food?" Jay asked.

Jet poked at a rotten looking carrot, "Couldn't ask for better."

The tall blonde Vulture laughed and offered Jet her Twinkie half. Jet took it gratefully, returning a genuine smile.

Green balanced two plates and two cups of water in her hands as she glided over to the couch, her frequent nesting place for the last couple of hours.

"Here's your food," She sang, handing a plate to Newt, "and here's your water."

Newt grinned, looking up at the wild haired blonde girl. He met her eyes, "Thanks Green… for everything."

"You are super welcome." She beamed. Green took a seat next to him and dug into her food. She was smiling the entire time she ate, and Newt smiled too… mainly because she looked ridiculous… adorably ridiculous.

Minho hated small talk. He grabbed his food quietly and took a seat in the corner of the main room, right next to the makeshift restroom.

"Hey, Minho right?" Cloud asked as she walked over to the leader.

He gave a sideways glance to the small dark haired girl standing to his left.

"Mmhm, and?" he asked

Cloud rolled her eyes and sat down next to him. "Listen, I'm usually pretty shy… I don't like to talk to people I don't know. I don't know you."

"Ok…?" Minho trailed with a confused expression.

"I just wanted to make sure you felt welcomed here." Cloud told him.

He shrugged, "I guess I do, even though you guys shot Newt."

Cloud smirked, "Yeah, about that…"

"It's ok, Otto kind of already apologized."

Cloud stood up, "Well I was just making sure you were ok. My name's Cloud." She began to walk away, "Hey. Do you wanna come sit over here with Glue, Otto, Ice and me?"

Minho really didn't want to, but he didn't want to be a total Slinthead, so he sighed, "Sure."

Ross watched as the room became more integrated. He saw Prez's eyes light up as he explained the differences of heatstroke and heat exhaustion. He laughed as Fox told his old but gold dead pigeon story and he smiled as he watch Tyler, Tate, Jeff and a young Glader carry out an extremely competitive piggy back ride competition.

"Things seem to be kind of working out." Kit said. She walked over to where Ross was sitting on the staircase and leaned next to him.

"Yeah, they do." Ross agreed.

"Can I ask you something Ross?" Kit asked.

"Of course you can."

She took a deep breath. Ross could tell something was bothering her, her hands began to twitch and her eyes danced around the room.

"Kit," he urged, "what is it?"

"Why is everyone so happy?" She blurted out. Ross looked around to see if anyone else had heard, but the sound of chatting and laughter had drowned her out.

"I don't know, why does it matter?"

"Because in less than two days we have to make life for these people a living hell. Do you think we did the wrong thing?" She asked, "I mean, I know what we need… but as a group, as a _family_ , we can't possibly expect ourselves to do what we have to do!"

Ross shook his head, "Calm down Kit, what are you trying to say?"

Kit scanned the room. She saw Ice throwing carrots into his mouth and earning applause from an array of Gladers and Vultures, she saw Tate throwing her head back and laughing, she saw Jay happy… genuinely and completely happy. "I don't think that they can follow through with this." She said before adding, "and I'm not sure if I can either."

Ross stared across the room for a brief second, he let himself see the kind Glader boy leaning against the wall with his hand tucked into the pocket of his worn blue jeans. For a second he let himself drink in the boys tanned skin and bold brown eyes. But he snapped back to reality, "I know it's hard Kit… but we're going through with this."

"Ross—"

"No. This was your idea and you were right. We are going to follow through and that's that." He pushed him self up and bounded down the 3 steps below him.

Kit walked over to where Ross had been sitting and buried her head in her hands, "Damn it." She sighed.

"What's wrong?" Kit looked up to see Thomas standing below her after several minutes of being alone. "Everyone's going outside for some sand boarding, what are you doing in here?"

"Nothing, I'm just… I'm just thinking."

"Oh. Do you mind if I sit here?"

"Go ahead."

For a long time the two sat in silence. The main room cleared of every body except Newt and Green, who hobbled over to the kitchen to get some water and probably steal more food. Kit carefully tied her hair back into a high ponytail and took a deep breath.

"Sorry, I was just having a little pitty party. Maybe we should go sand board."

"No it's fine, I wanna just talk to you."

She smiled, "Ok what do you want to talk about Thomas."

He leaned back so he could see only the back of her, "I don't know, anything I guess."

Kit was about to lean back as well when she felt a calloused finger brushing aside the hair on the back of her neck.

She whipped around, "What are you—"

Thomas grabbed her wrist tightly and pulled her to her feet. He shoved her against the wall and pinned her there.

"What the hell!" She screeched, Kit struggled against him but he was too strong. Fury filled his eyes as he held her there.

"Are you working with them? Huh? Are you going to kill us?! Are you a part of the trial?" He demanded, pulling her forward by the collar of her t-shirt and flinging her back against the wall.

The impact sent a ringing through her head, and Kit began to feel nauseous, "What are you talking about!" She choked.

"I just saw the tattoo! I know you're working for WICKED!" He hollered, "Don't play dumb Kit!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!" She cried again. Thomas was extremely strong, she was trapped against the wall with out any weapons to defend her self. No logical thoughts passed through her mind, only fear.

"I saw the tattoo Kit… if that's even your name. I know your working for WICKED."

"Thomas! I don't have a tattoo!" She insisted.

"On the back of your neck in dark black ink. You have one just like me. It says Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V2. The Boss."

Kit looked at him confused at first, but slowly fear, anger and shock over took her.

Thomas let her go and stepped back slowly. "You didn't know… you didn't know they tattooed you. Did you?"

Kit began breathing quickly, she backed away from Thomas and ran down the stairs into the bathroom. She yanked her shirt collar down and craned her neck. Sure enough, in thick black ink read the words: Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V2. The Boss.

Kit screamed.

 _Property of WICKED._

 _Property_ _._

*LINE BREAK*

Green shook her head 'no' for at least the thousandth time that day. "I'm sorry Newt, but this stuff is just too personal."

"So you really aren't going to tell me anything?" He asked, an hint of hurt sounding in his accented voice.

"It's not about you… it's just the way I am."

"Yeah, well I thought you'd trust me." He admitted, "I'm going to go lay down. Thanks for the help today." His voice lacked gratitude or a genuine tone. He stood up straight and hobbled over to the kitchen door.

Green looked down and chewed on the inside of her cheek. "I can't tell you my real name—" she whispered just before he turned the handle, "—because I don't remember it."

Newt turned around and stared at her, she didn't meet his eyes.

"When we started to get over the Flare, no one remembered anything, including their names, that's why we gave each other nicknames. Kit had a twitch, Cloud barely spoke, Ice has those icey blue eyes, and, well you get the point. Slowly everyone started remembering everything. The people who remembered their names earliest, like Ross and Kit, don't go by their nicknames very often. People who remembered after a couple of months… well the names just stuck. Over the course of the first year I remembered more about my past then I'd like. But, even still, I can't remember my name. In the beginning people would ask me every day, 'You remember anything today Green?'. I just had to shake my head. Eventually people didn't ask and I didn't remind them to." She stopped, and swallowed hard. Her tear ducts were damp and her eyes were shiny.

"I had no idea Green. I'm sorry."

She sucked in and forced a half smile, "It's fine. Now I've got a new name: Green. I like it. WICKED knows my name, but I don't. That's the way things should be, right?"

Newt didn't say anything, he just walked forward and pulled Green into a hug. He was just tall enough to rest his chin on her head and hold her to his chest. She let him hold her, and she held him back.

"I've never told anyone that." She whispered into his arms, "I think that they just assume I didn't care enough to tell them my real name."

Newt thought for a second, "If I ever see the people from WICKED again, I'll find out your real name. Even if I don't see you, at least some one will know."

Green pulled away and looked up to Newt. Her pupil-less green eyes were slightly intimidating to most people, but Newt looked right into them.

"Promise?" She asked.

"I bloody swear."

Green smiled, "Thank you Newt." She opened her arms to hug him again but Kit busted through the door. Her faces was sweaty and her eyes were twitching. Green could tell that her breathing was heavy by the way her chest rose and fell rapidly, she could hear Thomas yelling just outside the Kitchen.

"Check the back of your neck Green." She ordered.

"Why?" The small blonde girl asked.

"Just do it." She demanded before shooting out of the door frame over to where Thomas was standing. Kit looked like she was trying to explain something but Thomas would have none of it.

"What's going on?" Newt asked, peering out the door frame.

"Lets go find out. But… could you check the back of my neck first?"

He nodded and she turned away from him. Newt carefully collected her hair and placed it over one side of her shoulder. He tugged the collar of her shirt down and sure enough there sat a tattoo in dark black ink.

"You've go a tattoo," He said, backing away from her slowly. "Just like mine."

She turned around quickly, "What does it say?" She demanded.

He stared at her. "Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V13. The Broken Pieces."

"What the hell? The Broken Pieces? What does that mean!" She asked, stepping forward.

"I... I don't know."

"You have one to?"

Newt nodded slowly.

"What does it say?"

Hey took a deep breath, "It says… The Glue."

TO BE CONTINUED


	10. We Don't Fck Around

**Thank you all sososo much for the reviews! I got to a hundered last chapter! (Shout out to Kassidy10 my 100th reviewer). Thanks to those who were honest with me and those who gave me the amazingly nice and supportive reviews. I hope this chapter is as good as the last one!**

"Explain. This. Now."

Prez wouldn't call himself an official doctor, but in his professional opinion (if he was qualified to say that), Minho was minutes from exploding with anger. In fact, "anger" was an understatement. As soon as he found out about the tattoos, Minho gathered all the Gladers, spat a series of strange curse words at the Vultures, and barged out. Of course the deadly storm sent them right back inside the shelter and thirsty for answers.

The Gladers stood on one side of the main room near the door and the Vultures stood on the other. Minho, Thomas, and Newt stood face to face with Kit and Ross and the others crowded around. Prez stood to Kit's right, just a few inches away from her. Kit and Ross remained silent, feeding Minho's fury like oxygen to a fire.

"We aren't talking until you calm down," Ross said crossing his arms.

"I'm not a shucking five year old! Don't tell me to CALM DOWN!"

Kit raised an eyebrow, "You just spit on my face."

"Listen, you slintheads have 10 seconds to give me some shucking answers or else we're going to fight you for them." Minho spat, "It's 20 something against 13, I think we know who will win that fight."

Slowly, Ross's hand gravitated to the Machete strapped on his back. Kit gripped the hilt of her sword. The Vultures stepped in closer, each one grabbing for their weapons.

Ross tended to be a calm guy; Prez knew that. He'd lived with him for almost 8 years now. But, Ross wouldn't stand for his family to be threatened.

"You listen to me." Ross demanded in a calm tone. "We are 13 of the meanest, toughest, and strongest teenagers you will ever meet. Not to mention, each one of us comes equipped with a weapon. Knives, spears, swords, machetes, bow and arrow, and even a gun."

Otto shouldered the sniper rifle he kept strapped to his back.

"We stand as a family, we fight as a family, and sure as hell die for our family. So if you want a fight, we're game. But understand this," Ross said dropping his voice and shooting daggers at the leader of the Gladers,

"We don't fuck around."

Minho grit his teeth. After several seconds of intense glaring, he backed away and put his hands up.

"We've come to like you guys in these last 6 hours, give us answers because you all are good people… I think." Newt said, stepping in for Minho.

Ross nodded, "We aren't WICKED workers, we hate WICKED more than anyone."

"But," Kit cut in, "They offered us a deal. Help them with their trials and they'd give us ton of food, water, and weapons. We couldn't resist that."

"So you're working for them?" Thomas asked, looking right at Kit.

The leader refused to show remorse or regret, she held her head high, "Yes we are."

"I knew it!" Minho yelled. He lunged forward at Kit.

Time went in slow motion for a moment. Prez leapt in front of the girl who was to shocked to move. He braced himself by holding his forearm up like a shield. Minho came crashing into the tall boy but Prez held him off well. Prez simultaneously pushed Kit behind him.

Thomas and Newt reached forward and attempted to hold Minho back. Jay prepared to pounce but Ice wrapped his arms around her. Wasp pulled out her knife and Cloud aimed her bow. Fox held his rusted machete out in front of him. Otto's hands wandered to the gun on his back.

Tension filled the air as Thomas and Newt finally pulled Minho back. Prez's blue eyes were filled with surprise and adrenaline pumped through his veins, but he stood firm. He didn't know what came over him, he was only thinking of protecting Kit.

Kit placed her hand on Prez's shoulder as a silent thank you. She stepped forwards again and looked right at Minho.

"If you can't handle the truth you can get the hell out right now, because the truth isn't pretty."

Minho flared his nostrils, "I should've known you all were liars."

"We were just supposed to mess with you a bit, make you a bit freaked out so WICKED could monitor your minds." Ross explained, regaining his composed stature. Prez noted that he didn't mention the "you can kill a few" part.

"So what now?" Thomas asked.

"Well…" Ross looked at Kit, then at the other Vultures. He knew what the right thing to do was. He looked over to Dana. Hurt filled the Glader boy's eyes. Ross bit his lip hard, "You all can leave, we won't stop you."

Thomas nodded, "As soon as the skies clear, we are leaving."

Newt leaned in and whisper in Thomas's ear, "it's late, we need to rest. We should sleep here."

Minho overheard and didn't bother to whisper. "No way in hell are we trusting these shanks. We aren't sleeping here." He glared at Kit, "We leave as soon as the storm passes."

Kit felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Fox with his hand outstretched to her.

"I found this piece of paper," He told her, "It has all of the tattoos on it."

"Who wrote this?" Kit asked, taking the long, thin, dirty, white piece of paper. Her eyes scanned over it briefly:

Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V1. The Big Brother.

Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V2. The Boss.

Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V3. The Healer.

Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V4. The Sniper.

Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V5. The Daydreamer.

Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V6. The Crank.

Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V7. The Tinkerer.

Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V8. The Hothead

Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V9. The Comedian.

Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V10. The Fight-seeker.

Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V11. The Peacemaker.

Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V12. The Charmer.

Property of WICKED. Vultures, Subject V13. The Broken Pieces.

She didn't know who had each tattoo, but something stood out to her on each one: Property of WICKED.

Kit bit her lip, crumpled the paper, and looked up and Minho. "The storm won't pass anytime soon, you all are probably sleeping here." With that the leader turned on her heels and sped off to read the list over again.

*BREAKLINE*

"Ok, so what the hell do these tattoo's mean?" Ice asked.

Wasp shrugged. The two were sitting on the stairs, ignoring the continuous arguing and questioning. The storms had kept up and so the Gladers were stuck, along with their loud voices and large egos. The conversation was going around and circles and still no one had gotten over the whole helping WICEKD thing. Ice was more concerned about the tattoos that appeared on the back of their necks.

"I mean… mine says 'The Tinkerer', that's good, right?"

Wasp shrugged.

"What does yours say?"

Wasp took a deep breath, "WICKED doesn't know anything about us. These tattoos are bullshit. I don't even care what mine says."

Ice smiled, "Isn't that the truth." He stood up, "I'm turning in for the night, what about you?"

She nodded, "I'm going in a second."

As Ice walked away, her own words crumbled to dust in her mouth. It wasn't that she didn't care what hers said, it was that she didn't know what to expect. She didn't know what her tattoo meant.

Did WICKED know what was going to happen to her?

She stood up and walked down the stairs to her room.

She was subject V6. The Crank.

*BREAKLINE*

Otto wasn't much of a dreamer. But he was dreaming that night, he was sure of it.

He shared a somewhat cramped room with Tate, Tyler, Fox, Green and Cloud. Otto slept furthest from the door, right below the window. Outside, people shuffled and spoke in hushed tones. The weather hadn't cleared up yet and so the Gladers were stuck in the Base. Kit and Ross had remained awake, but the other Vultures had gladly gone to bed.

The dream was hazy _._

 _Click._ The door opened softly and a silhouette tiptoed through. Otto quickly shut his eyes and pretended to be sleeping... or was he already sleeping? In crept the female Glader, Jet.

 _What is she doing here?_ Otto asked his dream self, but he didn't speak up.

She walked carefully into the room and closed the door behind her.

Fox stirred.

Green snored.

Jet flinched.

Slowly she began walking forward again.

Otto had his eyes open slightly, he could see her walking towards him. She was a very pretty girl. She was taller than most, and relatively thin like most. Her hair was short and shiny brown, her eyes were a gorgeous shade of amber. She had a sort of prowl that Otto found almost attractive, but really he was more curious. In a shaky hand, she held a device that kind of looked like Ice's flashlight mixed with a label machine. After a few agonisingly slow and quiet steps, Jet stopped only 4 feet from his bed.

Jet hesitated. She lifted the device and pointed it at the wall. It flashed briefly and then went black. Her features relaxed as she breathed in sharply, turned swiftly and ran out through the door.

Otto's dream began to fade, and he fell into a deep sleep.


	11. For Family, From Family

**I'm loving the requests! I've gotten so much praise and support from you all and I love it and you! I hope this chapter is up to standards. It looks into relationships between the Vultures which are really my favorite ones. Please review, leave your opinions, thoughts, or requests! Shout out to Nefertam for sticking with me even though your character hasn't had a huge role yet! This chapters for you!**

It wasn't that Fox didn't like his tattoo; it just made him feel… useless.

The Comedian. That was it. No "Healer" or "Boss" or even "Peacemaker". What was a comedian going to do for a group of people that fought for their lives every day?

He rolled over on his side and tried to push the thoughts out of his head. He didn't want to be in a bad mood, the Gladers had finally left and they had the Base to themselves again.

After several sleepless minutes, Fox gave up and pushed himself out of the beige mattress that felt like a sack of rocks. He rubbed his eyes, stretched his arms, and—

He saw it mid stretch. A sentence, scrawled across the wall.

As Fox read the words on the wall, the dripping black ink that slipped down the gray cement, his saliva turned to sand in his mouth. His bones rattled with shock, anger, and even a bit of terror. His slitted eyes shook, it was a different type of fury, like a type of rage that hit deep into his past.

WICKED was responsible for the one line sentence. They were responsible for the Vultures countless scars, nightmares, malnourishment for several years, severe trauma and much more.

WICKED tattooed them as their property, labeled them with words less than 3 syllables, and screwed with the first friends they'd made in years.

"Wake up. Everybody. Now."

Green groaned and rolled over on her side. Tate sat up slowly bringing Tyler with her forcefully. Otto rubbed his eyes.

Cloud was the first to actually wake up. Her terribly ugly floral print box spring sat right next to his. She rose swiftly, and looked around the room like a robotic machine in charge of scanning for intelligence.

"What do you want Fox?" She asked in a groggy voice. He didn't even have to answer, her eyes grew wide, "Wha-what the hell!" She shrieked.

The others in the room snapped up, flinging them selves out of bed.

Green screamed.

Ross barged into the room followed closely by Kit and then the other 5 Vultures.

"What's wrong Green?" He demanded as he skidded to a stop right by her side.

"Look at the wall." She murmured, the red rage in her eyes contrasting against the vibrant green.

Ross scanned the wall just above Otto's bed.

"WICKED." Kit hissed.

"They can't do this to us!" Jay yelled from the back of the room.

"They can and they did." Tate told her, "And we aren't going to do anything back are we? WICKED needs to pay for this."

"We can't loose our cool over a stupid threat message guys." Tyler said.

"Besides," Ross added, "The Gladers left anyway… 30 minutes ago."

"No. No. That doesn't matter. We need to get them back, Tate's right." Fox said.

"Guys, what are you saying." Ross asked, "We can't take on WICKED."

"Ross, you're the leader and all, and we respect that. But WICKED can't get away with this. They are threatening our lives!" Fox explained.

"WICKED is trying to push your family around!" Jay yelled, "Are you seriously going to let them do that?" Jay asked.

Even Cloud and Green were on board, some of the kindest Vultures. It was only Ross, the most realistic, and Tyler, the most peaceful, who were against the idea.

"Guys, I'm with Ross here. We don't need to get into a fight with the greatest super power left in North America."

"WICKED labeled you the Peacemaker for a reason," Tate grumbled rolling her eyes.

"Yeah and you're the Fight-seeker, not much better." Tyler shot back.

Tate glared at her brother and clenched her fists.

"Enough you two!" Kit barked throwing her arms out between the twins, "let's go to the main room and talk things over."

As the Vultures exited the room, Fox looked back to the wall. He shuddered as his eyes fell upon the sentence again. It was horrid.

 **You can break deals as easily as we can break skulls, all 13 of them… understand?**

 **BREAKLINE**

The Vultures sat in a circle much like the way they were when they made the decision to not help WICKED. They had a new choice to make now: get back at WICKED or stay peaceful.

Their discussion was heating up a bit. Pretty much everyone had a different variation of the same opinion… even though Cloud was daydreaming and Wasp was quietly sharpening her knife.

"The way I see it," Prez offered, "we have two options. Go out, find the Gladers and do what we were supposed to do, or not follow through with the deal and fight WICKED at one point or another. They're pissed, we can't just avoid them and hope the don't strike at us."

"He's right," Otto agreed. Fox noticed that Otto had been a bit out of it, he seemed like something was bothering him. Of course, something was bothering all of them… but Otto seemed different.

"Y'ok?" Fox whispered as the others discussed the previously brought up points.

Otto looked around like he didn't knew who had just spoken to him. "Fine, really. I'm just a bit on edge."

"You and me both." Fox sighed hopping back into the conversation

"So how do you suppose we could take down WICKED?" Ross asked.

"As much as I hate to say this, we could team up with the Gladers." Jay suggested, the words tasting like vinegar in her mouth.

"How?" Kit asked. The idea sounded surprisingly effective and reasonable to her, not something Jay was known for.

"Even though they hate us and don't trust us, they need help getting out of the Scorch. Jet told me that they were infected by the Flare, and WICKED had finally developed a cure of sorts. The only way they can get it is by finding their way to the "Safe Haven." Its almost 75 miles from here, maybe a bit more. We can take them there if they agree to help us."

"Ok, that isn't a terrible plan." Ross admitted, "but, help us do what? What is our goal against WICKED?"

No one answered. No one knew the answer.

"Destroy WICKED." Fox said simply.

"Aw, Fox, you are so funny." Green laughed, reaching over and giving him a hug.

Fox shouldered her off. "I'm not kidding." He said. He stood up and looked around the room. "WICKED has screwed with us for the last time. They literally threatened the lives of every single one of us. That's the last straw. We need to put and end to them. Am I right?"

Once again, the room was silent.

"It seems kind of… impossible." Cloud shrugged.

"Yeah, that's what people said about surviving the Sunflares, the Flare and even the Scorch. But we've done it. We can do this to."

"He's right. We should beat those suckers up!" Tate cheered.

Ross shook his head. "I like the idea of teaming up with the Gladers, but the chances of us "destroying WICKED" are nearly zero."

"So we just let them come at us? Push us around like they still own us?" Prez asked.

"We can beat them down. No one knows WICKED better than us!" Jay yelled, "We grew up in those halls, 3 years we lived there and now it can come in handy."

"Lets mess with their light switches so that when they flip them on their lights turn off!" Ice yelled. Everyone stared at him.

"Really?" Kit asked.

"Or… or something else." Ice whispered, sinking back into the couch."

"I think we should take over their main base, with out it they can't carry out their experiments or do their research." Glue offered.

"It's not a bad idea." Kit said, looking at Ross.

"I just don't think we can do it." Ross stated crossing his arms.

"I think we can. In fact, I know we can." Fox argued, "C'mon Ross. This is your family we're taking about. WICKED called you The Big Brother, and they were right. You're our guide and or Leader, and honestly we would have a hard time doing this with out you. Lead us now Ross. Help us be victorious. Now are you or are you not with us?" Fox yelled.

Ross looked around the room. Even Kit was on the edge of her seat.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm with you."

The Vultures cheered.

"Now let's go find the Gladers!" Fox yelled.

 **BREAKLINE**

The Vultures scrambled to find their weapons and pack small bags. Wasp, Green, and Cloud ran out to the Storage room for some travel food and a bit more water. The others were gathering their things in their rooms.

"Let's just hurry up and get out of here." Cloud mumbled, "This place creeps me out."

"You can say that again," Wasp agreed, touching the cold condensed sand walls of the Storage room.

Cloud looked at Green, "What, no brain-splittingly positive remark?"

The blonde girl shrugged, "Not in the mood."

"You're always in the mood. What's wrong?" Cloud asked.

"I'm just… I'm kind of… embarrassed." She admitted. Green sat on the steps of the room and buried her face in her hands.

Wasp shot cloud a look and she returned a shrug.

"Green, you can talk to us, you know that right?" Cloud said, sitting down and putting her arm around her shoulders.

"Is it that Glader boy… Newt?." Wasp said awkwardly, sitting across from her.

Green looked up slightly ashamed, "Yes. He was so nice to me. He just tired to help me, and like always, I just ran away from him. I freaked out. I thought he was getting to close to me. I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm saying… this is weird."

Wasp took a deep breath, consoling wasn't her thing… talking wasn't her thing, but above all she loved Green and she wanted to help her out.

"Green, stop worrying about what other people think of you. This Newt guy obviously respects you. If you show weakness it doesn't mean you're weak. Love and sadness and anger and embarrassment are feelings not faults."

Green forced a smile, "You're right. I just get so nervous and scared—"

"Be brave Green, we know you can." Cloud said.

She took a deep breath, "Thanks you guys. Seriously." Her eyes smiled for her.

Wasp rolled her eyes but smiled anyway, "Besides, you're gorgeous. Who doesn't love a wild mane of blonde curls, freckles and eyes with no pupils… you're a catch."

Green side hugged Cloud, and despite her protests, forced Wasp in it too.

"I love you guys." She admitted, "What ever happens happens, but at least I have you guys."

 **BREAKLINE**

"This is going to be awesome." Tate whispered to Tyler as she threw her axe into a backpack.

Tyler smiled at her, "Hey, I'm sorry for fighting with you earlier."

"Eh, it's fine. We were tired." She shrugged.

Tyler pulled her into a quick side hug. "So," He said changing the topic, "It was pretty cool how Fox changed Ross's mind."

"I honestly don't think it was Fox." Tate slipped. Tyler raised a brow. "I think it was that Glader."

"Jet?" Tyler asked. He helped Tate up and led her to his bed.

"No. _Dana_." Tate snickered.

"Ross… um… plays for the other team?"

"Oh my God Ty!" Tate laughed, flopping onto his bed. "He told us like 2 years ago!"

"Oh… whoops."

"Yeah, I think I noticed a little bit of a crush happening there."

Tyler scratched his chin, "I did see them kind of flirting yesterday."

Tate smiled, "Ah, young love, so adorable."

Tyler stared at an interesting stain on the wall. "Um, to be honest, I kind of… have a crush as well."

"Really?" Tate asked, her clouded blue eyes filling with excitement.

"Yeah, I—"

Wasp walked into the room, cutting the Gentle Giant off. "You all ready to go?" She asked, smiling slightly at Tyler.

"Yeah," He sighed. "Let's go Freckles." He offered a hand to his sister, but her dopey smile didn't go away.

 **BREAKLINE**

They were ready in less than an hour, all 13 of them outside the door. It took them even less time to find the Gladers. It was hard to leave the base, It have been their home for almost 6 years now, but they had each other and that was enough.

All thirteen of them stood in the Scorch, the wind ripping at their dull clothes and the sand cutting into the skin on their cheeks. They looked strong and regal, they looked powerful, they looked almost invincible.

Green, Cloud and Wasp ran ahead to scope the Gladers out, they reported back with in a few minutes.

"They're taking a break behind that dune." Cloud said. "It looks like they're pretty beat up already."

"Amateurs." Prez said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, looks likes it's time for confrontation." Ross muttered, beginning to step forward.

"Wait." Otto burst. The Vultures turned to stare at their sniper. He looked rather disheveled. His hair was messy, his gun was skewed and his clothes were wrinkled. "I saw something last night."

"What?" Kit tested.

"Jet came into the room late in the night. She pointed this thing at the wall, and at first, I thought she was going to shoot me. But the thing just kind of flashed and then she left."

"And?" Jay inquired.

"And I think she lasered that note onto the wall. I- I mean… I don't think, I know. It was her. She wrote the note."

"Why would she do that?" This time it was Kit again.

"This is just a theory, but I think she's working with WICKED, I think she is like a spy."

"Shit." Ross breathed. "Why didn't you say something earlier?"

Otto looked down, "I thought I was dreaming."

Jay smirked, "Perfect Steel. But I don't think Jet is WICKED."

"Jay, I know you made a friend, and that's great… but I know what I saw. You know I wouldn't lie to you."

The tall dirty blonde haired girl looked to the ground. She knew he wasn't lying.

"Guys, we only have one option now, we left the base. We need to talk to the Gladers. We can tell them about Jet." Ross said.

"He's right, let's go." Kit agreed, walking forward with out waiting for protests.

The 13 marched up the dune and stopped at the top, looking down on the exhausted group below them. They were nervous, it was obvious, but they made a choice and they would follow through.

"You guys ready to do this?" Ross asked.

"Together?" Kit added.

The Vultures nodded.

"Damn right we are." Fox said.

As they walked down the hill the image of WICKED burning flashed through 13 minds.


	12. WICKED Will Fall

**ITS BEEN SO LONG! Sorry everyone, but here is the next chapter. For a while each chapter is going to go into a little bit of backstory of a couple of character... I think. Anyways, I hope you all like this and please review. Sorry for mistakes but I really wanted to get this chapter out!**

When he first saw her, he honestly thought it was a dream. Her hair whipped around her face like it was a caged animal that had just been freed. Her eyes were covered but he knew that below their confines they were shining. He pictured a soft smile on her face hidden below the tan bandana wrapped around her head.

She was crouching low, blending in quiet well with the sand that riddled the wasteland but he had spotted her. The girl was alone, scanning the group of Gladers carefully. She didn't want to be seen, but he had seen her anyway.

He thought back to his last conversation with her. She had left feeling embarrassed and angry and he had left feeling confused and helpless. All he wanted to do was make her feel safe and accepted but he had come off as patronizing… or at least to her he did.

He knew he had been digging deep into a girl that most could barely scratch the surface of. He knew she was uncomfortable, but more than anything he just wanted to be around her, to see her smile and feel her warmth.

"Newt." Thomas hissed, smacking his hand into Newt's chest. "Look up there."

Newt followed Thomas's finger to the spot where Green had been sitting, but she had moved. She didn't want to be seen, at least, not by Thomas.

"What?" Newt asked plastering his best dumbfounded look.

"Green was just there a second ago. The girl from the Vultures."

"I didn't see her." He lied through his teeth.

"Do you think the Vultures are here?" Thomas asked.

Newt didn't respond. He fiddled with the hem of his shirt nervously.

"I'm going to go say something to Minho. Keep an eye out, ok?"

"Good that," Newt mumbled.

Anger filled Minho.

 _How dare they?_ He asked himself.

The Vultures were back.

"What the hell are these mother-shucking shanks doing back here!?" Minho hissed.

Thomas cursed under his breath, "No idea. But I know I saw one of their scouts. What do we do?"

"Thank our bloody stars!" Newt said who was now sitting behind the pair, "Listen Minho, don't freak out. We have the upper hand now. But we need them as a guide." He readjusted his injured leg and looked deadest at Minho.

"So… be _nice_?" Minho asked.

Newt nodded and looked at Thomas, "You too." He scanned the Gladers, "All of us need to give our bloody respect."

Minho rolled his eyes and offered Newt his hand. He pulled the blonde boy up, and Thomas followed close behind them.

The Vultures were at the bottom of the dune by the time all of the Gladers were up and ready. They had decided to show them selves after Green admitted to probably being spotted.

"Ross and Kit, the leaders of the Vultures. How happy I am to see you." Minho said sardonically.

"The feeling is mutual." Kit retorted.

"Why are you all here?" Thomas asked.

Ross took a deep breath, "We would like to…" he sighed, "team up with you guys."

"Team up? Why would we do that?" Minho asked.

"Oh God, you really aren't making this easy, are you?" Kit asked, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We want to team up with you so that we can take down WICKED. They've messed with us for the last time. We need some justice."

"And revenge!" Tate yelled, "Don't forget about revenge!"

Jay nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, what she said. We know you are feeling angry with us, but—"

"Feeling angry? What, is this the shucking second grade? You lied to us! You are working with WICKED! I mean out of all of the god awful people out there, you chose WICKED!" Minho yelled.

"Be nice." Newt hissed.

Minho took a deep breath and composed him self.

"How about… how about we lead you to the end, no strings attached." Green suggested. Her head was down, but behind her goggles, Newt could swear she was looking at him.

"What?" Ross demanded.

"Really?" Minho snorted.

"I don't see why not," Newt shrugged. The three occurred almost instantaneously.

"I mean, it gives us an excuse to get closer to WICKED and it gives them a guide. It's a win win for both of us."

Several others nodded in agreement.

 _It's true that we don't need the Gladers_ Kit thought. One sideways glance at Ross told her he was thinking the same thing.

"We lead you to WICKED, and we can get there with out a lot of suspicion. It isn't the worst idea."

"What about the—" Kit started, but Jay leaped forwards and covered her mouth.

"I'll handle that." Jay whispered.

"I don't know how to get this across to you all, but I literally could not trust you less." Minho stated. "How about one of you leads us."

"Green could do it." Newt suggested.

Ross ignored that. "We aren't doing this as a courtesy, we have things we need to do. This is a polite offer. Come with us and survive, or don't and get lost and die."

"We don't care either way." Kit said, crossing her arms.

Minho looked at Thomas. He looked at Newt. He scanned the faces of the Vultures, people who had been kind to him and his friend and yet worked with his greatest enemy. He saw Otto, the boy who shot his best friend in the leg, but he also saw Cloud, the girl who had gone out of her way to be kind to him.

The leader swallowed hard and looked to the horizon. "Alright, we've got a deal."

Ross smiled victoriously "It was a pleasure doing business with you."

Kit looked to the Vultures. "Help these guys pack up the camp. Ross, Minho and I are going to go talk strategy."

 _I can't believe what I just did._ Minho thought as he followed behind Kit and Ross.

BREAKLINE

 _I'm just sweating because of the heat,_ Jet promised her self. _I've been trained for this. I'm not nervous. I don't get nervous._

 _The Vultures are primitive people; their only goal is to survive. They don't have the capacity to figure out that it was me who left the note,_ she assured her self.

Even still, the thought of being exposed terrified her. All her life, Jet had done what she was told because she knew that was how she could survive. People respected that. But the Vultures did what they had to survive _and_ keep each other alive. A threat to all of them would not roll over well.

The girl continued to pack her possessions carefully. She did not draw attention to her self, negative or positive. She remained passive. She remained silent.

Jet knew how the WICKED workers would react to this change in the trial. Chancellor Paige and the others had been on edge since the mistakes they made with Group B and this would only aggravate them further. If the Vultures kept interfering they wouldn't survive anything much longer.

"Long time no see." A voice snapped behind her.

"It hasn't been that long Jay, only a few hours."

"Well I've learned so much about you it feels like I never even met you. You're a whole new person to me."

Jet whipped around to see the tall blonde girl standing above her.

"What are you talking about?" She asked with a nervous laugh. Jet rose. Her mind ran through some of the things she learned during training.

 _Stand up straight, be confident, don't show fear no matter what._

But that was a mistake, Jay wasn't the kind of girl that could be messed with.

The blonde smirked and stepped in closer. She was a quiet a bit taller than Jet, her eyes pointed down wards and her mouth was tinged with a smirk.

"You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about." Jay insisted calmly. A flash of light burst quickly from her hand, and Jet looked down to see a small knife cradled in the Vulture's palm.

"Jay, you're starting to freak me out a little." Jet admitted.

"That's funny, you don't scare me at all."

Jet frowned, "Cut the crap Jay. What's going on?"

Jay lowered her voice, "You're working for WICKED. We know what you've done."

A thousand thoughts ran through Jet's mind.

 _Deny._

 _Reverse the words._

 _Accuse her for something else._

 _DENY._

"Why would you tell me before you told everybody else?" Jet asked calmly.

Jay bit her lip, "Because… b-because you're my friend. I want to ask so many questions like why? And how? And When? And well, you get the idea. But I know you, I know you don't have to do what you are doing."

Jet's expression changed from emotionless to angry. "You think I can just stop? You don't know anything about the situation I'm in!"

Shocked was an understatement, Jay did not expect that reaction form Jet. Jay was a hothead, it was literally tattooed on her neck, but she'd expected a bit more patience from the WICKED spy.

The only way Jay knew how to react to anger was with anger. "You are in no position to get furious with me! I do know the situation you're in and you don't. If the Gladers find out about you, I won't be able to stop them from ripping into your throat. I'm trying to _help_ you!" Jay fumed.

"Really, you think I need your help?" Jet demanded.

"I think that you are literally seconds from death if you don't listen to me."

Jet closed her mouth.

"You need to stop what you are doing for WICKED and help us. The Gladers don't have to know what you are, if you agree to help us."

The girl with the dirtied brown hair and amber eyes stared at her Vulture counterpart. She was literally astounded about how little Jay understood about her job for WICKED yet she accepted it at the same time.

Jet kept her voice low and steady. "Jay, what I do for WICKED is complicated. No matter how I feel personally, I can't leave. I'm sorry but I have to finish my job. Expose me if you'd like but…" She trailed off.

Jay could see the worry the spy was trying to hide. She could see the memories nearly flashing through her head.

But Jay did understand. She really did.

Memories of poorly cushioned tables with white parchment paper and fluorescent lights that buzzed as she lay alone. She barely got to leave the room or see other kids. They had group tests every so often but there was no introductions or goodbyes. Jay hated it, she balled in her chambers night and day, clenching and unclenching her small fists. But even still, when the WICKED worker came in to give her food or chat with her briefly, she would light up.

She was dependent on them.

They made her dependent on them.

"Jet, I'm not going to argue with you about this. You don't have any other options. Stop communications with WICKED and you'll be ok. At least you'll be with us. And safe."

Jet's eyes wandered to the knife it Jay's hand. She really didn't see any options; she needed to take some time to figure things out.

"Ok. Ok… I'll um… I'll help you all. I'll leave WICKED."

Jay let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding.

"Alright, give me your stuff." She stuck out a hand expectantly.

"What?"

"Your stuff." Jay repeated. She sighed at Jet's clueless expression, "The communication shit you used to talk to WICKED. I'll carry it in my bag and you can carry some of my things."

"I'm no—"

"You don't have a choice."

Jet bit her lip. Once again, Jay was right. "Ok, it's over here." She admitted.

As Jay shoved several communication devices, the map and a list of the Vulture's names into her bag Jet whispered, "Thank you."

"I honestly can't believe what I'm doing." Jay whispered back. She sniffed slightly and Jet realized the tall girl might be tearing up. "I don't make friends well. Even thought we've known each other for such a short time… I feel like… I don't know. It's stupid."

Jet knew what she meant. They both felt like they'd met before.

Because they had.

And it was terrifyingly beautiful.

They just didn't know that they had. Neither could remember.

 _Her feet scrapped the ground slowly. Jay had learned to the like that sound, sand against rubber soles. She knew she shouldn't wear out her shoes. Her mom had told her that over and over again. But her mom was gone, she'd left weeks ago. Now no one told her to do with her shoes._

 _She tucked a dirty blonde piece of hair behind her ear and shoved her hands into her pockets. Her thumb stuck out of the small hole._

 _Jay was wandering through the Scorch. She'd been in the citied area but she got lost. She was in the middle of no where at this point._

 _Scared. Alone. Six years old._

 _Crazy, she knew she was going crazy. She could feel it when her skin got hot for no reason. She could hear it when her mouth ran for no reason. She could see it when her hands would shake while she tried to drink water._

 _Wandering soothed her mind momentarily. So that's what she did._

 _SCRATCH SCRATCH!_

 _Jay nearly jumped out of her shoes at the sound of a near by human being. She scrambled to the other side of the dune and ducked low._

 _"Hello?" A voice called. It was young and feminine. Jay recognized that. These two facts calmed her and Jay built up the courage to peak above the dune._

 _A girl, about her age, with brown hair and amber eyes searched the horizon. She too looked lost and maybe afraid. But she didn't look sick._

 _Every one of Jay's instincts told her to remain hidden._

 _"Hello." Jay returned the call._

 _The girl's head snapped to Jay's spot and her face lit up with relief._

 _"Oh thank goodness!" She called in her high and childish voice. "I thought everyone else is dead."_

 _A ribbon of thought crossed Jay's mind. She lurched back and covered her face. "Don't come here, I'm sick." She insisted._

 _"Oh." The girl frowned. "It's ok. I don't get sick."_

 _Jay raised a brow. Very little doubt crossed through her young brain before she trusted the girl._

 _"Ok!" She cheered, "My name's Jay. Or… that's what my family called me."_

 _"My name's Peyton."_

 _"It's nice to meet you Peyton." Jay replied._

 _And so it began, Peyton and Jay, Jay and Peyton. They did it all together. Peyton took Jay's mind off her sickness and Jay took Peyton's mind off her homesickness._

 _The scoured the lands for food when they were hungry and made shadow pupets when they were feeling goofy. It was honestly quite amazing that the to young girls survived together for that week, but they did._

 _It was early in the morning when they heard the jeeps. They had taken a big liking to a cave with high ceilings and dark walls. Jay's condition was growing more serious and Peyton was growing more nervous everyday._

 _Peyton saw them first. Three black cars with WICKED written across the sides in white paint. They were heading in this general direction._

 _"Jay, someone's coming."_

 _Jay moaned in response._

 _Peyton knew that she had to do something. She'd heard rumors of WICKED, she knew they were bad news… but if anyone could save her friend, it was them. She knew she had to get their attention no matter what happened to her._

 _She pulled off her neon pink sweatshirt, once plastered in sequence and sparkles, and ran out of the cave, waving it in the air. The driver of the second closest jeep spotted her first. He signaled to the others and in seconds they were heading their way._

 _"What are you doing?" Jay groaned._

 _"Nothing." Little Peyton lied._

 _"No." Jay tried to push herself up but she failed almost instantly. "Pet! Please!" She called, "Don't do anything don't stupid."_

 _Jay's last sentence proved to Jet that her decision was totally worth it._

 _As the engines died Peyton dug her nails into her palms._

 _People in suits charged in to the cave. Peyton cracked under the pressure and ducked into a ball. The hazmats lumbered in an radioed ordered to each others. They poked at Jay and surrounded Peyton._

 _"She needs help!" Peyton called from her ball on the ground. "You need to help her!"_

 _"Don't worry. We'll help." A man said, grabbing Peyton's arm. "But you need to come with us."_

 _"Where are you taking here?!" Peyton yelled as the WICKED workers as they separated the two friends._

 _"Pet! Pey! Ton! Pet! Jet!" Jay's mind was slipping away from her, but she saw her friend. She called to the girl she'd come to love as she was ripped from her._

 _"Be safe." Peyton whispered as a single shiny tear slid down her dirtied cheek._

 _"C'mon kid." The worker ordered softly._

 _Peyton didn't even protest._

 _Jay would be safe._

 _She hoped._

Minho fumbled with a small pile of papers that the Vultures had brought. Maps, scouting zone information, accounts of different places they'd been and more. A single paper slipped from his hands onto the sand. He cursed himself under his breath.

"I know you're nervous, but you don't have to be." Kit said. She, Ross, Minho, Thomas and Newt had been planning for the last 30 minutes.

"Well Kit, I'm afraid that I've just made the worst decision in my life."

Kit sighed, _this again._

"Minho, I know you don't trust me. Frankly, I don't trust you. But You are going to get to the safe haven unharmed. I give you my word."

The sounds of rustling paper stopped. Minho exhaled. "Alright. Don't go back on your word."

"I won't, I never do."

In her mind Kit added, _And WICKED will fall, with or with out the Gladers._


	13. On The Road

**Ta Da! I'm back from the dead! Yay! Here are my real excuses: I was on vacation, no internet, and I wanted to give every character a role in this chapter. To be honest, updates will be spread out as my sophomore year begins, but never fret, I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. Read and please please review! Oh, and warning, lots of dorky and terrible fluff, I'm very bad at it so please give me advise/tell me I'm not as bad as I think I am *cringes*. Ok, enjoy!**

"Do you have any theories about the stars?" Tate looked up at the sky in bewilderment.

"The stars? Like the celestial bodies in space?" Fox asked.

"Yeah. Those things."

"Um…" Fox scratched his head, "I think they're firey balls of—"

"Not like that," Tate groaned, "Like… I don't know. I just think they're fascinating."

"Tate, you can barely see." Fox reminded her.

"Well, some stars are so bright that I can see them. I can see them like a normal person." She was silent for a second as she lowered her gaze to the ground. Finally, she turned to Fox and smiled, "I guess nothing about me is normal though."

Fox laughed, "Yeah, you wish."

Tate changed the conversation, "We've been walking for hours, when do you think we'll stop?"

Fox scanned the crowd. The two of them were in the very back of the pack. Ahead of them trudged exhausted Gladers. They'd been walking with sheets over their heads for most of the day, and had just taken them off when the sun went down.

"I'm assuming those losers can't last much longer. But who knows, they've got some determined leaders."

Tate took another long pause. "Do you have any theories about the moon?"

"You're kidding me, right?" Fox chuckled, playfully shoving Tate to the side.

"Hey." She warned, "Don't mess with me. I'm scrappy."

"Um… you're straight up dangerous Freckles. I've see you with that axe!"

Tate laughed out loud, "To bad you haven't seen it up close!"

"Yeah, that's just to bad."

*BREAKLINE*

"Jay, talk to me." Otto insisted.

"I don't know what you want me to say." The tall girl shot back, picking up her pace.

"Tell me what you said to Jet."

"Nothing important." She huffed.

"Did you tell her off? Yell at her for being a dirty spy and threaten to turn her in?"

"No. None of that." Jay said, stopping in mid step but continuing to look forward. "I took her equipment, it's more useful to us then abandoning her in the desert."

"And you're ok with her just… being here?"

Jay whipped around, "what do you want me to say Otto?! We don't have a lot of options!"

"I want to know that you're ok!" Otto snapped back. His expression softened, and he put his hand on Jay's shoulder. "I'm just looking out for you."

Jay sighed and shrugged him off, "I'm fine, don't worry."

Otto wanted to say more, he opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Otto," Green called from several feet ahead, "They need you up front."

He nodded and jogged forward after saying, "I want you to know that you can talk to me."

"Thanks." Jay whispered.

*BREAKLINE*

The inside of Green's mind is a fascinating place. As she marched along at the front of the pack, thousands of thoughts ran through her head. She wanted to appear professional, but not stiff, smart, but not arrogant, useful, but not selfish, and hungry, but not starving…

What?

She was the official directioner giver gal, while Otto was the official observationer-crank-spotter. Being with the leaders made her a bit nervous, but Green knew she could keep her cool.

"Where's the best place to set up camp?" Minho asked.

"I know!" Green yelled while waving her arms, startling every one in the group of near silent teens.

She stopped and cleared her throat in the awkward silence.

She was going to have to try a bit harder.

Green took a deep breath.

"There's a clearing a couple of miles that way. There are large rocks surrounding an open area. It would provide protection." Green told them. She wanted to add "And we could make cave art on the walls!" but she didn't want to risk sounding unprofessional.

"Well let's head that way then." Minho grumbled. "Otto, do you see any signs of cranks?"

The sniper shook his head. "Not here anyways, maybe there will be some closer to the camp area, you never really know."

Green glanced over at Newt. He was walking to the side of her, he'd been silent the entire walk so far, minus the time the he offered her a granola bar… which she politely engulfed with out chewing.

The girl gathered her courage and looked over to Newt.

"Hi." She blurted out.

"Oh, hey."

He responded, that's a good sign.

Once the gates had been open, it's like she couldn't stop her self. "Are we ok? Because things got uncomfortable and then you left and now I feel-" she paused, "odd."

Newt didn't respond for a long time.

Too long?

Eventually, he let out a soft laugh. "I'm sorry that you feel _odd._ I guess its weird because we didn't get to talk before I left." Silence. "I just want to let you know, all that stuff, with the Broken pieces and the Glue… those are just tattoos. The don't tell us what we are our who we are or—" He stopped, "No I'm just bloody rambling."

"It's ok. I like it." Green admitted.

Newt sighed, "I like talking to you Green. I like making you smile. I like you ridiculous personality and your inability to be normal. You're strange, I like that. And I think I can help you when and if you're every ready to talk."

Her mind cleared for a second. Green could see everything visibly. She stopped listening to the annoying voices in her head and looked directly at the blonde boy.

"I like you too." She said, she stopped walking, stood up on her tip toes, and placed a soft kiss on Newt's cheek.

"You're ridiculous." Newt whispered as his face turned the shade of a rose.

"But you like that."

*BREAKLINE*

The group had been walking for hours. Their feet ached, their heads swam, and sweat had become almost as abundant as sand. The Vultures tried to make awkward small talk while the Gladers tried desperately to keep thoughts of the Flare and Cranks out of their head. When they finally reached the cave clearing Green had been talking about, Minho was more than ready for a break.

Every body else had been ready 2 hours ago.

But whatever.

Kit didn't want to create any more conflict, so she went along with his plans. Kit knew she was really in charge; the only challenge was staying in charge while Minho thought he was.

"Hey Kit," Thomas said, as the leader unpacked the few items she'd brought with her.

"What do you need Thomas?" She asked.

"Can we talk?"

Images of thick hands circling around her neck filled Kit's mind. The feeling of her life slipping away from her with each second and the face of the person who brought that on followed close behind.

"I don't know, are you going to try to kill me?" She snapped.

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk about." He said, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. When she didn't respond, Thomas went on, "I over reacted… _way_ over reacted. I've been on edge all week. I mean, really I've been on edge since I can remember but… I should never have done that. I'm so incredibly sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

He turned on his heels and walked away.

Kit didn't respond at all. Her forgiveness would be hard to earn, and so would her trust. But he was on the right path.

*BREAKLINE*

"Are you going to dress those stitches?"

"Yes."

"And splint the leg?"

" _Yes._ "

"And did you clean it again?"

"Yes! Enough Prez, let me do my job!"

Prez looked down at his feet, "Sorry Clint, I'm just making sure."

"I appreciate it, to be honest." Newt chuckled, before wincing as Clint wrapped a bandage around his wound a bit to rough. "I like to know I'm in good hands."

Clint huffed, "I still don't need you breathing on my neck."

"Oh, sorry about that." Prez apologised, taking a step back. "I think I'll go find something else to do."

Prez walked through the clearing. Most of the group was fast asleep. The first awake person he saw was Tyler.

"Hey Tyl—"

"Shhh!" Tyler hissed

Prez arched his brow; Tyler was sitting quietly by Wasp, who was sound asleep on the ground.

"What are you doing?"

"I think Wasp is having a night mare, I'm just making sure she's ok. You know, so some one's there when she wakes up."

"Oh." Prez sighed, "I'll go some where else."

The medic trudged over to the next person. He saw Ross and Dana entranced in a deep conversation. Same thing with Jay and Otto. Sleep just didn't appeal to Prez at that moment, he wanted to be around people. It was an odd craving of his, but a strong one nonetheless. He was seconds from giving up hope when he heard a giggle at the edge of the campsite.

Prez followed the noise only to find Cloud, Ice, and Glue sitting in a tight circle. They held small rectangles in their hands and stared at them deviously.

"Got any sevens Cloud?" Glue asked.

Cloud frowned, "You little turd." She muttered, handing over two of the rectangles.

"What are you guys doing?" Prez asked.

"Playing cards." Ice responded, shuffling around his rectangles before adding, "Any threes Glue?"

"Go fish." The boy beamed with pride.

"Cards?" Prez asked.

"Yeah," Ice explained, "Cloud had some."

"There a thing from our past, I found them scouting one day and I remembered some old games." She scooted over a bit, "Wanna play?"

Prez smiled, "Of course, but I've got to warn you, I'm pretty good."

"Aw shut up. You don't even know how to play." Cloud laughed.

"Alright, now who's ready to loss?" Glue asked, grabbing up all of the cards and reshuffling.

*BREAKLINE*

Ross picked up a smooth piece of stone he'd found on the floor. It was ragged around the edges, but flat and soft on the tops. He looked out at the desert and pictured the dunes as rolling waves, petrified just before they capped.

He chucked the stone out and it landed with a small splash.

"I'm glad you guys found us." Dana admitted.

"Yeah?" Ross asked.

"Yeah. As much as we hate to admit it, we need you all."

"I'm glad we came. I'm glad _I_ came."

"Yeah, I'm glad you came to."

Ross's hand slowly crept over to Dana's, only inches at a time. When they made contact, when Ross's hand was on top of Dana's soft skin, their breaths caught in their throats.

"Wanna talk about something else?" Dana asked hesitantly after a period of silence.

"No, let's just… sit here. Let's just sit here for a while together."

Dana smiled up at the starry night, "I'm ok with that."

*BREAKLINE*

The strange thing about it all was that the whole time she knew it wasn't real. Wasp was totally aware that she was in a dream, and yet, nothing had ever been so real or so terrifying in her life.

 _She was running as fast as she could, running for her life as 6 cranks trailed behind her. They were different than the rest, they were smarter and faster and even stronger. She felt them breathe on her neck and she her the sadistic slick sliding of their tongues against their lips. They wanted her. They needed her._

 _She flew through the desert with drive. Wasp did not look back, nor did she stop to breathe. She pushed her self through because she had to._

 _The sounds of feet punding the ground filled the night sky, the stars nearly shrunk back in fear._

 _Only a few 100 feet ahead of her was the clearing, there she could find safety in her friends and family. With a goal in mind, Wasp found a little extra speed. But every nerve ending in her body could feel the cranks behind her._

 _When she finally reached the stone clearing, relief flooded over her in waves. She fell to her knees and crawled to the bodies of her friends._

 _"Wake up!" She cried, "I need help!"_

 _But they remained motionless._

 _"Ross! Kit! Tyler! I need you guys." She howled. Wasp was growing desperate. Her pursuers were mere feet away. They loomed over her like a shadow._

 _With a last flow of energy, Wasp surged forward, flinging herself onto her bag and whipping out her flashlight. She shone the abrasive light into the eyes of the Vultures and nearly screamed at what she saw._

 _Thirteen bodies, lined up in a row. Each one dead._

 _At their feet, written in thick dark blood was a plea for help: Save our Souls._

 _Wasp dropped her flashlight and screamed. She scrambled to her feet in an attempt to run away, but the Cranks stopped us._

 _"Let me go you monsters!" Wasp ordered, but they only grew closer._

 _"_ You _are the monster Emma." They hummed. "You killed your friends."_

 _They closed in tighter, blocking off all light and forcing Wasp to the ground. They chanted those words over and over again, and all Wasp could do was cover her ear and scream._

 _"Emma!"_

 _"Emma!"_

"Emma! Wake up!"

Wasp jolted awake, gasping for breath. To her side sat Tyler, alive and fully functioning.

"You ere having a nightmare, I thought I should wake you up."

Wasp rubbed her head, "Thanks." She muttered. "Did you call me Emma?"

Tyler blushed an looked away, "I thought it might help cam you down. You were freaking out pretty bad."

On impulse, the dark haired girl grabbed Tyler's hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Thank you." She said genuinely, "I needed that."

Tyler squeezed back.

"Alright, I'll go to my cot now," he said.

"No!" Wasp cried before regaining her composure, "S-stay here. Please."

Tyler looked deep into her brown eyes, "Of course I will. I'll stay right here."

*BREAKLINE*

"Can you think of any other games?" Ice asked Cloud.

She shook her head and let out a wide yawn.

"Hey, don't get tired, we've still got an hour of watch duty." Ice reminded her.

Her hands gripped her bow and arrow tighter and she sat up straighter, "You're right."

Ice placed his head in his hands and stared out at the dark sky. In the very corner of his eye, a shadow sped through the dark.

"Did you see that?" He asked Cloud, reaching for his weapon.

She shook her head, "Don't get me all freaked out Ice."

"I'm not trying to, just pay attention to over there."

Her sigh was heavy, but Cloud obliged. She scanned the desert and came up empty.

"Oh!" She gasped.

"What?" Ice demanded.

"We can play Crazy eights!" She quickly began shuffling the cards again and dealing them out. Ice took his, but stared at the horizon with caution.

"Ok, just make sure your weapons are close. I have a bad feeling."


	14. Guardian

**Ok, Attempt number two. A coding error occured so there is a small amount of revisions. Thanks to everyone who let me know! Ok as I said before, I was a bit disappointed in the lack of reviews last chapter, if your character is in the chapter, please review.**

 **Anyway, sorry this took me so long, I worked really hard on this chapter and I hope you guys like it. Ignore spelling mistakes. Love you! *heart***

SIX YEARS AGO

Honestly, her first concern was the fact that her eyes were sealed shut with crusty boogers and sand. Try as she might, she couldn't force them open.

Then her other concerns hit her.

"Where the hell am I!?" She yelled aloud, forcing her eyes open. Light burst into her retinas causing her to fly backwards, landing in the soft powdery sand.

She literally clawed through her brain, racking it for anything, any memory at all; even her freaking name. She couldn't even remember what she looked like!

As far as she could see, it was desert for miles, warm golden sand and heat waves wafting up from the emptiness. Strategies zoomed through her brain but movement to her left interrupted her.

She peered into the shining horizon only to find a figure scrambling through out the sand. She rolled her eyes, wanting to investigate but fearing danger.

The figures were moving about, but not necessarily closer or further away. She cursed herself, and then decided to stand up and go examine the movements.

As she grew closer, she came to realize that the figure were actually 2 people.

A boy, maybe 10, with spikey black hair and dark gray eyes, laid on his back, pinned to the ground and flailing around. On top of him sat an even younger girl, clutching a piece of jagged glass and holding it high above her head. She was threatening him with it and she was barely 9 years old. The girl knew she was significantly older than both of them, they were clearly confused and she knew she could help.

"Get off him!" The older girl yelled, clutching the maniacs shoulders and attempting to pull her off the boy.

"He stole something from me! He took it!" She screeched.

The older girl ignored her screams, and continued to wrestle with her. The little one was stronger than she looked, but no match for the other's sturdy arms.

In a minute, the girl with crazy blonde hair was ripped from her victim. The piece of glass went sailing through the air, and the two fell on top of each other, tumbling down a sand dune.

When they finally rolled to a halt, Blondie pushed her self up and tried to make a break for it. She scrambled towards the other girl, attempting to kick her while she was down, but Black-hair charged down the dune, slamming Blondie to the ground.

"Stop fighting!" The older girl demanded. Her voice boomed and then carried through the open air. The pair stopped, be it out of shock or fear, and looked at her, really looked at her for the first time.

A breath caught in her throat. The boy was missing his left eye… it was just gone. He had a strong jaw and dark features which made him seem a bit older, but his face had a haunting look.

The girl reminded her of a little chipmunk or a golden retriever puppy. She had crazy, curly blonde hair that just barley reached her shoulders, pale skin, and cheeks dotted with freckles. But most notably, she had these two evergreen orbs for iris, no pupils, just green.

The older girl knew only one thing about her self; she had dark skin, darker than either of the kids in front of her.

"I don't know who I am. She just started attacking me—"

Something in the little girl's mind clicked. It was as if he reminded her why she'd been attacking him. Her expression changed and before the older girl could stop her, she was charging at the boy. She tackled him to the ground and shoved his face into the sand.

"Give it back!" She screamed, pounding her fists into his chest.

The free teen ran forward, shouting at the blonde to get off. She hooked her arms under her tiny armpits and flung her off the boy, sending her sailing into the sand.

She landed with a loud _THUNK_ and moaned in pain. The teenager followed close behind her, pinning the blonde to the ground and staring into her eyes.

"You need to calm down!" She ordered.

Green eyes didn't respond, she just turned her head to the side and let a single tear fall down her cheek. Something was clearly wrong with this girl. She seemed to be losing her mind or she possessed multiple personalities, because with in seconds she was calm and composed. She no longer fought back, but just began crying silently.

The teen frowned and un straddled her. "What did he steal from you?" She asked.

"H-he stole my name. He took it from me."

The boy, who had just recently walked over, shook his head but didn't say anything.

"So you don't know your name?" The teen asked.

"No." She sobbed.

She put a dark hand on the pale girl's shoulder, "How about I call you Green, like your eyes? Would you like that?"

Green stopped crying and looked up, "Ok, and I'll call you Sapphire, like your eyes."

Sapphire smiled slightly, "That's ok with me."

Green laughed and clapped her hands together, "And he can be Grey! Just like his eyes!"

The boy frowned, "I want a cooler name, like Racecar! Or… or Metal!"

"How about Steel?" Saph suggested.

"Yeah!" Steel threw his hands up in the air. "Wait," He paused, "I'm not sure I want to be around that girl. She tried to hurt me with sharp things."

Saph looked at Green, "Green, will you promise not to hurt Steel anymore?"

Green hung her head in shame, "I promise."

"Ok, perfect. Now do you guys think you can trust?" Saph asked.

There was a pause, at first it was a bit discouraging, but she understood. Saph wasn't sure if she could even trust herself.

"I can trust you." Steel admitted.

"I can too." Green said with an assuring smile. "We're friends now."

Saph let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. She stood up and motioned for the others to do the same.

"I don't know why we are here guys, but I'll get us all home. I promise."

She began walking towards the horizon, but just as she started, the two young kids reached out and grabbed her hands.

She smiled and gave them each a squeeze.

"This is gunna be fun!" Green hollered into the empty air.

AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER

"What about you Steel, do you remember anything?" Saph asked.

He shook his head, "Nothing."

She sighed. They'd been walking for almost an hour or so. She was exhausted and thirsty and she could only assume the two children at her side felt the same. Once they warmed up to each other and Green got talking, she had a hard time stopping… in the most adorably annoying way. When she spoke, the curls in her hair bounced as she laughed and for the better part of the time they had been together, she was walking on her toes like an excited fairy.

But now, they were tapering out, all of their energy was draining and Saph didn't know what to do about it.

The sun sunk into the sand like a cookie plunging into a glass of milk, making Saph's mouth water. She took a deep breath and told her self to pull it together.

"Help!" A voice called in the distance. "I can't see!"

It was a feminine voice, young and fear filled. Saph down to the kids, Green had backed away, covering herself behind Saph's long legs, and Steel balled his, staring straight ahead.

"C'mon, lets go check it out." Saph suggested.

Green shook her head and whimpered slightly, but she didn't forcefully protest. Steel nodded.

The group made their way towards the noise, sticking close together and remaining silent. Green didn't let go of Saph's hand, but Steel had gained his courage.

"Hold still!" A different voice ordered, much closer this time. It was strong and sturdy, but had a gentle undertone.

Saph peered over the dune only to find a group of young children, similar or slightly older than Steel and Green. Two girls and three guys running around in circles like lost puppies. A girl with light brown hair was clutching her eyes and screaming, while an identical looking boy trailed behind her, trying to calm her down.

After only a few minutes of observation, it became clear that the younglings were in the same situation as the smaller group. They had no memories, no idea who they were or where they were. They walked around clueless. A small, asain girl with brown hair and multicolored eyes sat crisscross on the sand, observing everyone elses movements.

Two boys, one dark haired with hazel eyes slit like a fox and another with blonde hair and ice blue eyes, paced around yelling at each other but not really saying anything important.

"We should go." Steel said.

"We need to help them." Saph told him, looking slightly shocked at his lack of sympathy.

"What? We need to protect ourselves."

"Need I remind you that if I hadn't found you, this crazy kid over here would've gouged your last eye out with broken glass?"

Green looked down in shame.

Steel looked away, "Fine, but we need to be careful."

Saph nodded in agreement, "You guys stay behind me. Steel, hold Green's hand. Green, don't go crazy."

Green frowned, "I want to hold your hand."

"I need you to be safe." She said, giving the small girl a slight smile, "Steel, watch her please."

Saph walked down, followed by the kids. "Hello!" She called to the other kids.

Their talking stopped and they instinctively clumped together, glaring deeply at the incoming group.

Saph smiled slightly, she didn't want to threaten the kids. Steel's face was set with out much expression, and Green twirled her hair nervously.

"Who are you?" The boy with blue eyes asked.

"We aren't sure, but I go by Sapphire, this is Steel and that is Green."

The boy frowned, "We don't know who we are either."

"Hi Miss Sapphire." The slit eyed boy piped up, waving an enthusiastic hand, "Are you going to help us?"

"Um… yeah, of course." Saph said, a little shocked to be called "Miss".

"Can we stay at your house?" He asked.

"We don't have a house." Steel said, "We are homeless people."

"Us to!" He said, holding up his hand for a high five.

Steel furrowed his brow, "That… isn't good."

Slit eyes shrugged.

"So you guys don't know anything either, no memories?"

They all shook their heads.

"What do we do now?" The brown haired girl asked.

From the looks of it, these kids all had something off about them. There were multicolored eyes, no pupils, weirdly shaped pupils, missing an eye, nearly blind and more. Saph wondered if something was wrong with her. Maybe they'd been left here because they were all rejects of some sort.

She remembered the strange look in Green's eyes when she attacked Steel. Maybe they were all crazy. Maybe they were insane. Maybe she was insane and imagining all of these kids, why else would she be stranded in the desert with 7 kids barely above the age of 10.

"Saph is going to find us somewhere to live." Green perked before adding, "Because she loves me."

Saph faked a smile and choked out a sentence, "Just follow me ok, I'll figure something out for us."

The kids looked up at her hopefully with their weird eyes. In less than 3 hours, she'd gained the company and trust of 7 kids.

 _I think I'm going to vomit_ , she thought. But Saph pushed on anyway. She and the kids walked for a small amount of time for that part of the journey, Green made up names for everyone as they went. Fox for the slit eyed boy, Ice for the blue eyed boy, Freckles for the blind one and Cloud for the quiet one. She was deciding between Mouse and Gentle Giant for the tall twin, when they stumbled upon something that made Saph want to cry: 3 boxes marked **"WICKED supplies"** in big black letters.

"Look!" She yelled, taking off running before anyone acknowledged what she'd seen.

She knew she was being followed, she could hear Green and Steel right behind her so close that when the tall blonde girl with a gun stepped out from behind the crates, Green came slamming into Saph's back.

"Holy shit!" Saph cursed, screeching to a halt and throwing her hands up, "Don't shoot!"

Four people, or kids, armed with weapons that looked way to threatening for their age, manifested from behind the crates holding weapons Saph was honestly surprise that they were even able to hold up the heavy, metal blades.

These five were much more threatening then the other seven. Saph's breath caught in her throat.

"Please don't shoot us." Green whispered, stepping behind Saph.

Saph looked behind her, seeing that all 7 of the children had gathered behind her legs.

"Who are you guys?" The blonde girl with the gun asked. She was tall, but clearly still young. Her eyes were amber and her face was dotted with freckles.

"We are just a bunch of kids lost in the desert. We were hoping these crates had food or water or something in them."

"They don't have anything for you." One of the kids said, he was a young boy with multicolored hair like some kind of animal. He stood up tall and held his machete firmly.

"Please, we just need some water." Saph begged.

"No." Said a girl with multi colored eyes and dark brown hair. Her hands twitched slightly, but she still kept a firm grip on a long blade.

Saph was tired and hungry. Green wouldn't let go of her hand and Fox kept pulling Cloud's hair. She was sick of walking and she just wanted some fucking water.

"We are going to take some of your stuff," Saph said between grit teeth, "and your going to be o-fucking-kay with it. Understand?"

The girl with the gun stood up a bit straighter. A boy with a slightly deformed hand held up a baseball bat. A brown hair boy, slightly older than the rest, clutched a throwing knife in his hand but made no threatening movements.

The brown haired girl stepped forward, she twirled her knife carefully and stared deep into Saph's dark blue eyes.

"Go. Away." She warned. "Now."

Saph glared at the girl. She charged forward and rammed her into the boxes, causing the pyramid to topple over. Her knife fell from her hand, and Saph to the opportunity to pin her to te ground.

Behind her, she saw the kids charge forward. Steel took on the girl with the gun, knocking it out of aim and forcing it from her hands. Green and Fox charged the throwing knife kid. Cloud, Freckles and GG took on Crazy-hair, and Ice went straight for the Mutant Hand.

The kids tore at each other, Green wrestled the knife from her opponent, but he quickly got it back and lashed out at her. Cloud flew across the sand while Steel clutched his head after receiving a punch to the jaw.

The girl under Saph squirmed between her legs, but Saph didn't let go.

 _What the plan here?_ She asked her self. _We can't just beat them unconscious and take their stuff. The oldest one couldn't be more than 12._

"Stop fighting us!" Saph plead, "We can get along."

"We can't trust you!" The girl yelled, her eye twitching viciously.

"Yes you can! We don't even know who we are!"

She stopped moving, "You don't? Do you have any memories?"

Saph shook her head, "None."

"Neither do we. I don't even know my name."

Saph rolled off the girl and offered her a hand, "WE can help each other. You can trust us. I promise."

The girl lost her edge, her fear factor, Saph saw her now as the little 10 year old she was. Short and innocent, lost and confused. She need Saph's help as much as the others did.

"Stop fighting!" Saph yelled to the others.

The children obeyed, they let their arms fall to their sides.

"What's wrong?" Freckles asked.

"We are going to work together, We are all in the same boat."

"You guys don't have your memories either?" Steel asked the blonde girl.

She shook her head.

"We can be a team, we just need to get along. Does everyone agree?" Saph asked the group.

Once again, no one visibly protested.

"Great. Now let's look in these crate for some things we can use or maybe some clues or something."

Cloud walked over to Saph with tears in her eyes. She out stretched her hand, showing a long but thin cut on the palm of her hand.

"This hurts." She whispered.

Saph knelted down and took the small hand into her very carefully. "Let me see that, Beautiful."

It wasn't anything to serious, but who knows what was on the blade that cut her.

"We need to clean this or stitch it up or something."

The brown haired boy that had been holding the throwing knife stepped forward, "I think I can do it." He seemed a bit more sure of himself than the others, and to prove that Saph trusted the new group, she nodded and pulled Cloud into her lap.

"Do what ever, just don't hurt her."

The boy nodded and searched through the crates until he saw a small spool of thread and a needle. As he got to work, Green got to work naming every body.

The new recruits were deemed: Glue, Hyena, Twitch, Doc, and Sassy.

TWO WEEKS LATER

"Jay! Get off Otto! You're going to suffocate him." Saph yelled storming into the main room to investigate the cries of help.

The girl, having recently remembered her real name along with Otto, peeled her self off of him reluctantly and stormed out of the room. Saph frowned and offered Otto a hand.

"Why do you keep getting sat on by girls, man?" She asked him.

He looked down, "I don't know. I made fun of her hair cut."

"Well don't" Saph told him, "Or else one of these days she's going to crush you."

Otto nodded before running off, hopefully to go apologize to Jay.

Saph looked around the room as a sense of triumph washed over her. They'd been in this place for nearly 3 days now, the longest they'd ever lasted in one location. It was a concrete building with a strong foundation and sturdy walls. It wasn't huge, but with a large room, two bedrooms, and an upstairs area, Saph felt that they fit fine.

Between the thirteen of them, things had been going well. The quieter ones explored the dunes and whispered amongst each other and the louder ones Threw balls of dirt at each other and tried to run the fastest. Some of them were really quite helpful. The girl they'd nicknamed Twitch had a knack for getting everyone to be quiet, and Hyena, the multicolor haired boy always made sure everyone was happy.

After several sleepless nights, crying for hours because she was so worried for their future, Saph finally felt as though she'd provided enough for the kids. They all seemed happy. She just couldn't understand why some one would do this to these amazing children, why couldn't they see how great they were the way she did. She loved them, she needed them to be safe, and some one didn't want that. It pissed her off to no end.

Saph sighed and strolled outside only to find Cloud and Green with their feet up on the outer wall and their heads down in the sand, laying on their backs and babbling on about something. Green dominated the conversation, but Cloud got a word in every few minutes.

"Hey girls, what's going on?"

"Hi Saph! We're just thinking of team names." Green said, looking up at Saph.

"For what?" She asked completely confused.

"For us silly, because you always say we're a team."

The girl crossed her arms and raised a brow. "Let me hear them."

"We've got The Power Squad, Desert Birds, and Awesome Team so far." The blonde said, "But we're going to keep working."

"Alright, you two have fun. I'm going to the storage room for some water. Cloud, make sure Doc checks out your stitches."

She nodded and gave a small smile before returning her attention to Green.

Saph walked alone to the storage room, a small cave they'd found to keep all of the stuff they'd collected and the items in the Crates. It was only a few minute walk, but it was dark out, and Saph didn't feel comfortable walking alone, so she jogged their in an attempt to make the trip as quickly as possible.

She skidded to a halt as she entered the room because inside stood the scariest thing she'd ever seen.

A young girl, very tall and slender looking, with her black hair sparyed all across her face and her clothes ripped to near shreds, stood in the middle of the storage closest. Her tan skin was cracked and dry, her lips were pale and her eyes were completely blood shot. She swayed slightly as if she might topple over any second, but gave no signs of physical weakness. Her expression was blank, but she carefully fumbled with a small black and yellow striped cloth in her hand.

"A-are you ok?" Saph asked hesitantly, her fingers inching their way to the knife strapped to her thigh.

The girl swayed.

"Can I help you? Are you hurt... or sick or something? Do you need help?"

She didn't respond.

"Listen I—"

She lunged forward and grabbed Saph around the collar of her shirt. She smacked the knife out of her hand and stared deep into Saph's eyes. She was way to strong for an 10 year old.

"We won't make it!" The girl shouted, a terrifying look filling her gaze. "They were done with us and they left us here to die!"

"Let go of me!" Saph screamed.

"Leave now! The kids aren't all right! They killed the world and they'll kill you too!" She stopped and let go of Saph shirt. She backed away slowly as if a realisation had just hit her, as if she just realised Saph was carrying a deadly disease. "You will kill you. You'll kill you and you will save us all." She paused, her eyes the size of saucers. "Thank you."

With those final words, her eyes rolled back into her head, and the young girl dropped to the floor unconscious.

 _3 years later, after fighting her demons for as long as she could, Danielle "Saph" Kent took her life._

 _•∞•_

 _While she may have been dead, she wasn't gone_

 _She watched them struggled and carry on_

 _She watched the one who had fallen apart,_

 _Look for her self with no idea where to start._

 _She saw young love form in the strangest places,_

 _She saw them battles as if they were just races._

 _She watched the leaders strengthen_

 _and their bodies lengthen_

 _She heard the quiet ones speak their mind_

 _She watched them learn compassion and how to be kind_

 _And while their lives were riddled with disaster and sadness_

 _She was there through out the madness_

 _She was their mother and leader, she loved them beyond compare_

 _But they had to learn the hard way that life wasn't fair_

 _She killed her self and ended her strife._

 _The universe claimed a young and full life._

 _But that night the desert cried from the skies_

 _For the world would no longer be seen from those beautiful sapphire blue eyes._


	15. United We Fall

You all: "Wow GEW! That was fast!"

 **I know! It was because of all of the reviews! Here is chapter 15! A lot of action and two new characters introduced, courtesy of one of my favourite readers: Insanity's Jewel! Not as long of a chapter and some loose ends left, but I had small portions of writers block and I just got into a really hard math class. ALSO, what are your all's opinon on me writing a new story? not SYOC probably, but an AU senario that focused on WICKED being a reform school. It probably wont happen but I've been playing around with the idea. Ok on to the important stuff!**

"What do you mean she isn't waking up?" Ross demanded in a furious voice.

"I don't know what you want me to say. We've tried everything." Clint shot back.

"How could this happen? To one of our people!" Ross yelled, throwing his hands up into the air.

Kit ran a shaky hand through her dark brown hair, "Ross you need to calm down. She'll be fine, she will."

"She's to young for this, she needs us." He panted, pacing around the few standing members of the groups. "She might go into a coma or… or…" He choked and swallowed hard.

EALIER THAT MORNING… LIKE 4 O'CLOCK

"It's a glorious night! A perfect night to end the world!" A shrill voice screamed from far away, jolting Cloud awake.

She snapped forward and grabbed her bow before she even opened her eyes. In mere seconds she had her bow loaded with a sharp arrow and aimed it into the dark night's sky.

"What?! What's wrong?" Ice yelled, shooting up next to her.

"Some one's out there." She hissed, slowly rising into a feline like crouch with her bow notched and the string taught.

Endless possibilities ran through her head of who might be out there.

Ok… so not endless.

Cranks or WICKED. But each option made her want to hurl.

"Should we wake the others up?" Ice asked, Baseball bat in hand.

Cloud swallowed hard. She didn't want to wake the others up over an idle threat, sleep was necessary in these rough times; but then again, you could never be too careful.

"We'll wait a second, just so we can make sure there is actually something. We just need to stay awake."

"You know, we could ask some one else to be on duty for a little bit."

Cloud bit her lip; she didn't want to burden anyone else.

"Just spread out and watch the horizon. Call if you see or hear anything."

Ice nodded and jogged off in the opposite direction.

The small dark haired girl prepared to indulge herself into her own thoughts. Quiet was a whole different realm for Cloud; it was her sanctuary and her temple. Silence made her world go round so when she had it, she embraced it with open arms.

Of course, as always, the universe was always there to screw her over.

"What a night! What a night!" The same shrill voice yelled, but closer this time. Her typical reflexes took her over and she was ready in mille-seconds.

"Whose there!?" She demanded. She looked behind her shoulder, "Ice! Over here!"

Cloud turned back around and scanned through the dark. Her deep brown eyes picked up nothing, and her ear only heard the whistling of the wind.

"Ice!" She called again, "Where are—"

A loud scream cut her off, ripping through the air like a jet.

"Ice!" Cloud screamed, running over towards where the boy had been… or was… or whatever.

Before she could move much further, a thin pale hand snaked around her neck and yanked her back.

"Stay here beautiful." The voice ordered, blocking of her windpipe.

"Get off me!" Cloud screeched, thrashing around violently. The attacker only held on tighter. The breath inside her slipped out and never came back in. She raked the air for anything but came up empty.

She felt her life slipping away, she began loosing the ability to move. Cloud could no longer fight.

Sounds muffled through her ears but nothing stuck.

Chaos erupted around her, Cloud could barely sense what was happening, but she heard muffled yells and saw flashes of people off in the distance. They were under attack but Cloud couldn't help. She was trapped.

In a last attempt to break free, the small girl tried to shove the sharp end of her arrow into the large person's thigh. But it was no use, the arm only squeezed tighter.

Just as the black spots in her vision began clumping together like magnets attracting each other from across the table, a large figure manifested in front of her, ripping her from the grasp of her attacker.

It stabbed the man in eyes ball and she was finally released.

Her knees buckled and she would've fallen on her face if it weren't for Dana, opening up his arms and catching her in his chest.

"Hey, hey. You're ok." Dana assured her. She sucked in deep breaths, allowing her sight and hearing to return. Dana held her for a few seconds before she was able to stand up.

"What's going on?" She choked in a state of slight shock an panic.

"Cranks." Dana replied, letting go of Cloud so she could stand on her own. "But they aren't all Gone. They've got something in their… it's just bat-shit crazy."

Cloud looked around, everyone was fighting. She cringed as Fox just barely dodged the rusty blade of a tall and bulky woman with jet black hair cut close to her scalp. He rolled to his side while the sharp edge drove into the stone.

"Duck!" Ice ordered him as he smashed his baseball bat into the woman's gut. She crumpled to the ground and cried out in pain. Ice grabbed Fox under the arm and pulled him to his feet.

"C'mon Dana." Cloud yelled, trying to walk forward, but she stumbled to the ground. Letting her bow clatter to the earth.

"Stay down Cloud, these Cranks are seriously dangerous." He yelled back, before taking off to go help out another Glader.

"Like Hell I well." She muttered, standing up and sending an arrow into the throat of a thin man.

*BREAKLINE*

 ** _BANG!_**

A dark skinned man fell to the ground, clutching his bare chest as the blood flowed freely from it.

Otto sucked in a deep breath and moved onto his next target. From his perch on top of a dune, nearly 30 feet from the battle, he could see everything going around in the stone clearing. He picked off Cranks with his sniper rifle, being careful to avoid the sane teenagers.

He watched Jay smash a long thin knife into the hand of a young girl, maybe 22, who seemed pretty far Gone. She cried out in pain and struggled against the blade holding her to the ground. Jay loaded up and roundhouse kicked her in the face, spraying blood across the pale stones.

In the other corner, a tall man sprinted straight towards Green, clutching a huge rock, way to big to be carried by a normal human being. Otto nearly screamed and dropped his gun at the thought of him crushing the girl. Green caught him in the nick of time, flinging a knife into his chest. He skidded to a halt and doubled over, dropping the rock right onto the small foot of the blonde girl. She screamed out in pain and clawed at the stone, trying to push it off.

From behind her, a broad girl, maybe only 25, rushed forwards, knife in hand and determination in her heart. Green shouted and tugged desperately at her leg, her eyes filling with fear as she realized what was about to happen. Otto aimed to take a shot, but Green's attacker was moving to fast, in a matter of seconds the girl would be on top of her

Just as she was only a foot away, ready to pounce, Newt sprinted out from nowhere, slamming her to the ground and flinging her knife into the sand. The impact against the stone knocked her unconscious and the threat had been neutralized.

Newt lifted the rock off of Green's foot with some effort, and carefully helped her up. He wrapped his arms around her as the relief washed over her and she silently sobbed into his chest. His breaths were heavy and his face was flushed, but he too seemed beyond relieved to see the girl safe.

Otto felt bad for watching, so he decided to scope somewhere else.

"You busy?"

He whipped around only to see the strangest man Otto's ever seen. Slit eyes just like fox, but with black silica instead of a white part. His iris were the color of thick warm blood and his teeth were more like circles than squares. His skin was tan; his hair was long and jet black, and he toward above the crouching boy, with a sharp rapier in his hand.

Otto gulped, "C-can I help you?" He asked, blinking rapidly.

"I'm just looking for the party, my brother and I heard some noises. Thought we could join."

Just at that moment, another man appeared, almost more intimidating than the last. He too gripped a sharp weapon and possessed a series of mutations making him look like a cross between a vampire and the Joker.

"Otto! Are you up here?" Prez called, bounding up the rocks. Otto was frozen in place. He didn't have enough time to warn Prez or aim his gun, he just slowly stood up, mouth agape, and stared at the people in front of him.

"What's wrong?" The new one asked, "Did this guy just get hit in the balls with a rock or something?"

Prez skidded to a halt, having a similar reaction to the men as Otto did. His eyes widened and his jaw hung slack. "Holy shit!" He yelled, stepping in front of Otto protectively. "It's ok Otto, we can take them together. Just grab your gun!" He hissed.

"What the hell are you to talking about? We aren't going to fight you." One of them said.

"Yeah, we'd just kill you before you even got started." The other added, picking at his nails.

Otto quickly reached down and grabbed his gun, holding it up tentatively.

"We don't want any trouble." Prez said, gripping a throwing knife tightly. Otto couldn't help but notice that he only had one knife. One measly knife. The men had fucking swords.

"Neither do we. My name's Scar," The newer one said. "This is my brother Dante. We can help you guys with that Crank problem." He said, peaking over Prez's shoulder and scanning the chaos below them.

"What the hell is going on?" Otto whispered.

"No clue." Prez replied.

"Listen, we really don't need your permission to kill those Cranks. We're going to go do our job, and then you can thank us later." Dante said.

With out another word, they sprinted past the two Vultures, shoving them aside and quite literally leaping into action. Finally exiting his paralyzed state, Otto was able to make a cohesive comment.

"We need to go stop them… or at least make sure they don't hurt any of the good guys."

"Right," Prez nodded, "That. Let's do that."

The pair followed suit, dashing to the aid of the struggling Vultures.

The battle had been going on for only 20 minutes or so, but the number of Cranks had been overwhelming. It wouldn't be long before the group of survivors faltered, and the Cranks overcame them. But these two incomers, Freaky and Freakier, brought a new life to the battle. They sliced through their opponents like butter, like it was second nature.

Their movements were flawless, and yet it seemed as if they were paying no attention at all.

"Well they aren't stabbing at any of the good guys." Prez said blatantly.

Otto nodded in agreement, "You've got a point."

"Should we go help?"

Otto watched the scene in front of him closely, "I'm not one to back away from a fight… but I honestly think we'd only make things worse."

Prez nodded, "I'd have to agree."

*BREAKLINE*

Jet nearly lost it when the Cranks showed up, but she kept her cool. She was still trying to prove to everyone that she was on their side, and running from a fight, even if it was against blood thirsty Cranks, was not the best way to show them. But when the tall guys with strange eyes showed up, ripping through everything in their path, that's when she lost it.

She screamed as one of them barreled towards her, covering her eyes to shield the image. But she merely felt a swoosh of air over her head and the blood of a Crank being sprayed on her shirt.

She opened her eyes slowly, watching her would be murdered collapse to the ground, and her strange savior smile in victory.

"Are you ok?" He asked in a somewhat genuine tone.

She only nodded and muttered a "uh-huh."

With that, he darted off to his next target, leaving her to stand alone and gather her courage.

The fight was ending, she could see that clearly now. The sun was rising and the battle was nearly won thanks to the strangers.

As Minho threw a spear into the last standing Crank, he didn't even attempt to hide his anger.

"Who the hell was on watch duty?" He yelled, pacing through the group, "And who are you guys?"

"I'm Scar," One of the strangers said.

"And I'm Dante." The other added.

"Well that's shucking awesome, could you tell my the shuck you're here?"

Scar's face scrunched in justified anger. Dante just rolled his eyes.

"Hey, you can calm down." Jet said, letting her opinions get the best of her. Minho didn't know about her being a WICKED spy, unless any of the Vultures had said something. But he was on edge about her anyways, he had been form the beginning. "These guys saved our asses." She stormed over to Minho and stood in front of the new pair defiantly.

"And who are you to talk?" Minho asked, crossing his arms.

"Some one they just saved. Get over your trust issues and actually talk to people for once."

"I'll take this over," Kit said, forcing her way into the center of the group. She faced Scar and Dante, "Thank you so much for all your help. Can we ask you some questions?"

"Um… ok. But I think it will have to wait." Scar said. He pointed to a figure standing behind the group.

It was Fox, his eyes were watering and his hands were covered in blood.

"You have to come see this. Now. Bring Ross."

*BREAKLINE*

No one could've expected it. No one would've seen it coming. They'd always known that the life they lived involved risks, but it seemed to soon to lose another one.

As the group followed Fox, a million fears ran through their head, but nothing could prepare them for what they were about to see.

A large pillar like rock jutted up from the ground, covering a small group of Gladers and Vultures like a canopy. There stood Newt, supporting Green, who was crying freely and favouring one leg. Wasp was looking away with her arms crossed, a blank expression on her face, but a single tear running down her cheek. Ice and Jay huddled close together, Otto stood watch, Cloud clung to Ross's shoulder, and Glue buried his head in his hand. The crowd was hovering over a smaller group, every one centered around one girl. Tate.

She lay on the ground, her bloodied head cradled in Tyler's lap. Prez, Jeff and Clint worked furiously, stitching, cleaning, and bandaging the large cut on her head. But the small girl didn't move. She didn't moan or shift or take much more than a shallow breath. She just lay there, motionless.

Above her, Tyler let salty drops of water pour from his eyes but he didn't make a sound. He placed her head in his lap carefully and clutched on to her hand as if it was the only thing keeping her alive. Under his breath he whispered _stay with me, please God let her stay with me._

It was dead silent other than the sound of the doctors shuffling about.

"What happened?" Kit asked Cloud, blinking back a tear.

Cloud shook her head, "Tyler and Wasp just found her like this."

"Who did this!?" Ross demanded as he arrived. His eyes held a furry that Kit had never seen before. It was consuming him.

"Ross! Be quiet!" Kit urged, walking up to him and blocking the unconscious girl from his sights.

"I need to know who did this."

"I'm sorry, but there is nothing we can do right now. We just have to do what we can to help Tate."

Ross pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut as if he was trying to understand a hard math problem. "She's stronger than anyone. I don't understand how this happened."

"Listen to me." Kit pleaded, "Tyler is over there dying inside. You need to calm down and do what you can to help him, help all of the Vultures and help Tate."

Clint had made his way to the leaders with Minho right behind.

"She isn't waking up. I'm sorry."

"What do you mean she isn't waking up?" Ross demanded in a furious voice.

"I don't know what you want me to say. We've tried everything we can right now. She needs time." Clint shot back.

"How could this happen? To one of our people!" Ross yelled, throwing his hands up into the air.

Kit ran a shaky hand through her dark brown hair, "Ross you need to calm down. She'll be fine, she will."

"She's to young for this, she needs us." He panted, pacing around the few standing members of the groups. "She might go into a coma or… or…" He choked and swallowed hard.

"Everything will be fine." Kit lied.


	16. Love Will Set You Free

Hello all, shorter chapter but I'm having some blockage :(. Let me know what you think, and as always tell me if you have ideas for your character especially if they haven't had a main part in a while! You guys are doing great with reviews, please keep it up! Enjoy the chapter!

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Not like this. Nothing like this was supposed to happen to them. Vultures didn't fall from the sky and die. They fought back. They fought against everything to survive. They didn't lose lives; they carried on their own.

She's dead.

 _Those words rang in the young girl's ears over and over. She ran out into the desert, squeezed her eyes shut and fell to her knees._

Wasp knew it was her fault. She'd cursed her. She made Saph crazy.

She killed the leader.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Wasp!" Some one called from just outside Dreamland. The girl's eyes snapped open, flinging her into reality.

"What?" The girl asked in a groggy tone.

"Are you ok? You were yelling in your sleep." It was Fox. He looked tired. Deep bags hung below his hazel eyes, his hair was disheveled, and his normal crooked grin had been wiped entirely from his face.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired and a little distraught." She whispered, sitting up straight.

"Aren't we all?" He sighed, taking a seat next to her on the ground.

It was true, no one had really slept much. Four hours ago the attack ended, now everyone was on edge. The Gladers wanted to move on, but they didn't want to lose their guides. The Vultures fluttered about Tate, focusing on her more than they focused on sucking in the very oxygen that kept them alive.

Wasp had managed to sneak in a good half an hour nap, but she seemed to be the only one.

"Any change with Tate?"

"Still hasn't woken up." Fox said, refusing to meet her eyes.

"Are you scared?" Wasp asked him with out thinking. All of the Vultures were close. It was common for them to be honest and talk to each other. Wasp felt comfortable talking to Fox about tough subjects.

"Terrified." Fox breathed, "But I have faith in Prez."

Wasp nodded in silent agreement.

"Well," He said, rising to his feet, "You've got another couple of hours if you want to get back to sleep, but after that Minho wants to start packing up. He said they can't waste anymore time. Hopefully by then Tate's condition will have improved a bit."

Wasp smiled but didn't respond. She didn't want to keep thinking. She forced the bees buzzing in her head to shut up for one second, and allowed her self to fall back into a deep sleep.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Are you down for a game?" Glue asked.

Thomas turned around; only to find a few Vultures he hadn't talked too much. "I'm not really in the mood." He admitted

"What's wrong?" A girl with multi colored eyes asked, Thomas remembered her as Cloud.

"Yesterday's battle took a toll on us two. We lost 4." Thomas told them.

"I'm so sorry, we you all close?" Cloud asked, taking a seat by Thomas. The others followed her, Glue and a blonde boy, Ice maybe?

"Not really, but it still hurts. There were 50 of us originally, back in the Glade. Now there are 16."

"We understand." Ice said. "It never gets easier."

"I'm sorry, I don't want to bum you all out. You've got your own problems with Tate."

They all looked down, none of them said much of anything. The wound was obviously still fresh.

"Tate is strong." Glue said simply.

"I don't doubt that." Thomas replied with a polite smile.

After a few minutes of silence, Thomas spoke again, "You know what, how about a game. Cards right? What are we playing."

The Vultures smiled, "Oh you have no idea what you're getting into."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""

Jet stared across the clearing at the two boys. Tall, thin, terrifying. They were people she might see in her nightmares, and yet… they'd saved her life. She owed them a lot.

She stood slowly, and walked over to them. "My names Jet by the way."

"Scar." One brother said.

"I'm Dante." The other chimed. They'd been sitting alone for quite some time now. They didn't seem to have much of a plan.

"What's in store for you two next?" Jet asked, sitting by Scar.

The boy shrugged, "We don't have much of a plan."

"I didn't think so." Jet admitted.

"We are just along for the ride." Dante said.

"What ride?" Jet asked.

"The ride of life." Dante sighed.

"Alright."

"What my brother means is that we don't have a set plan. We're just going where ever."

"Well, if you wanted to, maybe you could come with us." Jet said, "I don't have much authority… or trust… in fact I'm kind of like their hostage… but I could vouch for you all if you wanted to stay."

Scar smiled, he had a nice smile. "Thanks. We'll think it over."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""

Minho watched the small group from 50 feet away. They hustled around, grabbing for towels, needles, and pain medicine, anything they could think of to help the blind girl.

He let his head roll back and sighed. It was probably a lost cause. People don't come back from injuries like that. Not in this world.

The group consisted of Prez and Clint, Thomas, Kit, Tyler and Ross. They were a group of determined people, so if anyone could save her, Minho would assume it would be them… or real doctors who weren't 16 and untrained.

"Hey Minho," a quiet voice called from a few feet away.

The boy looked up, his eyes meeting Newt's dark brown ones. Newt walked over to the place where Minho was sitting, he limp even more prominent than usual.

"Where's your girl?" Minho asked.

Newt stopped limping over to him for a second, his cheeks briefly flashing a slight shade of red.

"She crushed her foot under a rock. She's sleeping it off now. I stayed with her until she fell asleep but I couldn't do the same myself." He admitted in his thick accent. The blond took a seat next to his friend and focused his stare on the group in front of them.

After a long moment of silence Minho spoke up once more, "I'm glad she makes you happy. Green's a nice girl."

Newt's face stretched into a dopey smile as if just thinking about her made his day. But slowly, it melted away, his expression taking on that… that Newt look, the one that he had when his mind was drenched in thought.

"I don't… I don't want to leave her." He looked to the ground. He paused, "I know that we might have to. I understand that. But every bone in my body tells me I that I should stay with her."

"Newt…" Minho trailed.

"Just listen to me." Pause. "If I told you I loved her, would you believe me?"

"It's been like four days Newt." Minho reminded him.

"I know, and I'm not saying I do. But I'm sure I knew her before all of this. She's… familiar to me."

Minho didn't respond. He watched the leaders of the Vultures discuss Tate's conditions or plans or what not. He rolled a piece of sand between his calloused fingers.

"Yeah, I guess I would believe you. I know you. I know that you wouldn't just toss those words around." Minho admitted, "but that doesn't change the fact that we have to make it out of this God forsaken shuck hole."

"Give the Vultures a little bit more time." Newt pleaded.

"We aren't staying here for the night, that's for sure."

The blond nodded.

Just then, Green hopped/walked over to the boys.

"What are you doing up?" Newt asked, rising to his feet. He grabbed onto her hand and looked into her eyes, steadying her.

"I couldn't sleep anymore." Her eyes were wet; her dirty face was paler than normal.

Newt pulled her into a hug, her head resting against his chest.

Minho stood up, "I'll give you two some privacy." He walked off, but just before, he turned and said, "I'm sorry about your foot Green. Feel better, alright?"

Green nodded, and gave a close-lipped smile.

As he walked away, Minho heard Newt say, "C'mon, sit down. What's wrong? Remember, you can tell me anything."

Minho smiled slightly. He wished the best for them.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""

 _EIGHT YEARS AGO. WICKED FACILITY._

"""""""""""""""""""""""""

 _"Come along boys." Dr. Crawford said, leading the pair down the long hall._

 _Newt took a hop step in order to catch up with the long legged Doctor._

 _Beside him walked a boy that had been introduced as Minho. He was a relatively tall Asian boy, a good 3 inches taller than the blond. They were on their way to get their weekly shots. These still confused Newt, he'd only been at the facility for a month or so, and not much made sense to him._

 _As they sped down the hallway, his eyes caught hold of something. Through the small circular window of a lab he could see a tiny girl with disheveled blonde hair and big eyes, sitting on a medical bed, dress in nothing more then a medical gown. She wasn't a part of his group; he was sure of that. He'd never seen the girl before._

 _After a second, her head turned and her eyes met his. She waved to him, slowly and cautiously, but smiled all the same. Being a young and stupid boy, entirely overwhelmed by her beauty, Newt just stood, mouth open, and stared._

 _The girl laughed, unfazed by his stupidity._

 _"Newt!" Minho hissed, pulling the boy from his trance. "Let's go, you'r going to make Doctor Crawford mad."_

 _Newt muttered a few none coherent words and let Minho drag him away form the girl, as he waved like his hand was falling off._

 _For the next week, the pretty girl consumed his thoughts, but it would be a few months before he saw her again._

"""""""""""""""""""""""""

Imagine you've lost everything. Your family, your friends, your house, your education, your pets, your clothes. You have nothing. You don't even have your name.

Imagine you have one light; you have one thing weighing you down, keeping you grounded. It's your everything, your God, your hope, your drive… your _everything._

Imagine that light blinks and begins to fade. Imagine you get a glimpse of your sad, miserable, terrible life without it. It's worthless without the light.

Tyler took a deep breath. He was honestly surprised he hadn't lost it completely yet. His hands clenched and unclenched. His eyes watered, but he kept it in.

His mind was slipping from him. Everything he loved was in that stupid girl. She was everything he had left. If he died so would his soul.

"Tyler." Some one called from the huddle around Tate.

The boy looked up, his eyes meeting Prez's.

"Come here."

He heaved a breath. "Ok." He stood up and walked over to the huddle. His mind was blank, he was preparing for the worst. He just couldn't believe that yesterday he had her there, right next to him. He would've done so many things differently if he'd known about the future.

Tyler would've at least told her how much he loved her one more time.

As he pushed his way to his sister, the weight of the heavens above rose from his shoulders. For those two cloudy blue eyes were open. They smiled at him, her curse eyes.

He covered his mouth with his hand. She was laying limply on the ground, pale and bloody, but she was alive. The light burned on.

He fell to his knees next to her, tears flooding freely from his eyes.

"I'm sorry Tate," He whispered, grabbing her hand.

She forced a smile, "It's never your fault, you did nothing. I'm sorry I almost left you."

A beautiful smile broke across his face. He felt like laughing. He felt like signing. He just wanted to hug his sister forever.

"I love you." He choked. "I love you so much. Please don't ever leave me."

She nodded tiredly, "Never."

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When the world is on your shoulders and your are falling to your knees, oh please, know love will set you free.

-Kodaline


	17. If You're Still With Me (Part One)

AH! I'm SO EXCITED for these next string of chapters! Things are about to really start heating up! Please let me know if you have anything specific you want from your character as things get deep... *makes menacing and slightly evil face* Enjoy the chapter and tell me what you think! Next update might take awhile because the next few chapters are going to be Looooooonnnnnngggggg

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"A bomb? With all due respect Chancellor Paige, this plan sounds an awful lot like the incident that occurred in Glade B."

The Chancellor stared ahead, "I understand the risks, but we can plant the explosive in an area that would cause little fatalities."

"We have very promising candidates in that group, both Immune and survivors. A possibly fatal experiment on even just one of them is a huge loss, we learned that from the Killzone test of Subject V14, Saph." The young scientist pointed out

"Don't remind me Dawn. You are quiet brilliant, but we need to consider the best options for the trial. They need a sudden increase of stress, that is going to do wonders for our research."

Dawn nodded.

"Reduce the gunpowder by 75% and carry on."

"Of course Chancellor."

""""""""""""""""""""

"We're leaving. Right now."

Ross sighed into his hand, "We talked about this Minho. Give us a few hours to finish bandaging her up and then we all can go."

"Sorry _Hyena_ but that isn't going to fly. We are getting out of this place. I don't understand this "trial" but I am not in the mood to time test, alright?"

"Minho, calm down." Thomas hissed.

Ross stood firmly, "You all don't know where to go. We've come this far to help you. You aren't just leaving us here because you don't want to upset your WICKED masters."

"Watch it." Minho warned, gritting his teeth.

Kit rolled her eyes, the level of testosterone was maddening. Each of the idiot boys wasn't thinking straight. They needed to compromise.

"How about you give us half an hour to fashion a stretcher for her, and then we can bandage Tate up on the road."

"That is a good idea Kit." Thomas said, trying to break the tension between Ross and Minho.

Ross finally spoke, "Alright, but if Tate is uncomfortable, we stop. No questions asked."

Minho didn't respond. "Go find Newt, Thomas, tell him we are out of here in 30 minutes." His brown eyes never left Ross's gaze. After another few second of glaring, Minho turned and walked off, barking orders at the remaining Gladers.

"Ross," Kit whispered, "we need to make sure Jet is with us in the front today, I know the path gets a bit more tricky up here, we need her to navigate."

Ross nodded. His jaw was tight and his eyes were stone.

Kit sighed and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Could you please calm down? I know that it's been a stressful night, but your temper isn't going to make things any better for anyone else."

"You're right, I'm sorry. I'm just tired."

"We all are." Kit admitted, rubbing her temple. She paused, an idea floating into her mind. "Maybe you should talk to Dana. He seems to make you happy."

Ross blushed brighter than the sun, "I don't… I mean, it isn't like—we aren't—" he stuttered.

"Chill, I'm only trying to help." Kit said. She smiled and punched his arm lightly, "Take a break. I'll get some people to help with the stretcher."

Ross nodded, "Thanks Twitch, I really appreciate it."

"Don't mention it."

""""""""""""""""""""

"How the fuck are we supposed to make a stretcher with absolutely no materials?" Jay demanded, throwing her arms into the air and letting them drop to her side dramatically.

"Ok, first of all, language, and second, be more positive." Green scorned.

"Easy for you to say, you don't have to make it."

"My foot got crushed by a 20 pound rock."

"That's what they all say."

"Let's just be creative," Otto suggested, "We could use this for something." He held up a once colorful cardboard box with the word "Glad" written on it. Inside were large black plastic bags that were stretchy but durable.

"Ok, let's just fold Tate up, stick her in a trash bag, and carry her like a sack of potatoes." Jay proposed sardonically.

Green scowled at the girl's poor attitude.

"How about we find a couple of poles or sticks or something, and then put the trash bags across them. Tate isn't very heavy, I'm sure it would support her."

Jay nodded, "Ok, that might work. But were are we going to just casually find poles in the desert?"

Otto nodded, "Good point, I have no idea."

"What if we used a sleeping cot, tied sticks to the short end, and then just had to people hold it so that it didn't slump in under her weight?" Cloud said. The three scouts were sitting down together on a large rock. Wasp was braiding Green's hair quietly, Green was humming happily, and Cloud was sharpening the stones on her arrows. Much to Jay's demise, none of them made much effort to do any physical labor.

"It could work." Wasp muttered.

"Ok, don't say "we" say "you" because you aren't helping us." Jay ordered.

"What? I'm not following."

The tall girl groaned, "Never mind."

Otto stepped in, "Alright lets try your idea Cloud."

Cloud smiled, "Thank you." She set down her bundle of arrows and walked over to the area they had slept in the night before, snatched a cot from a sleepy looking Glader, and walked back calmly… no explanation given... or needed.

"Here, we can use this."

"Alright." Otto nodded. "Now we need some short sticks or rope or something."

"How about our bandanas," Green suggested, "We could tie them in loops at the corners, like little hand holds."

"That isn't actually that bad of an idea." Jay admitted.

Wasp clutched her signature black and yellow striped bandana.

"You'll get it back. Don't worry." Otto assured her.

Wasp sighed, squeezed the cloth for luck, and tossed it over to the sniper. Green and Cloud did the same.

"We need one more."

Green's eyes wandered over to the bloody sock she'd take off of her injured foot.

"Oh God, that's disgusting." Jay gagged, reading her thoughts.

"We don't have a lot of options." Cloud chimed, tossing the sock to Jay.

Jay caught it, but scrunched her nose as if it was covered in feces.

"Alright Otto, tie these to the Cot. I'm going to go burn my hand."

"I wouldn't do that so soon. You've still got to carry one end of this stretcher for the day."

"What? Really?"

"Well I've got to snipe, Glue can't because of mutation reasons, Prez is on doctor duty, Ross and Kit are leading, Tyler and Fox are bringing up the rear, and Cloud and Wasp are scouting. Leaving you and Ice."

"Shit," She muttered.

""""""""""""""""""""

Minho stared at Scar. Scar stared back. Dante stared at Minho. Minho continued to stare at Scar. They were all silent, standing in a small trio, wait for the other to make a move.

"If you'd like our help, we can provide it." Scar said.

"I don't trust you for shit." Minho spat.

"I trust him." Some one called.

Minho turned to see Prez walking up, followed by Glue. "I saw Dante and Scar raiding a WICKED truck not even 2 weeks ago while scouting for medical supplies. I assumed they were Cranks. I know they are against WICKED and so are we."

"So? That doesn't mean I trust them. I barely trust you."

"But if you think we're good guides, imagine people who literally travel the Scorch every day and do nothing else."

Minho thought for a second, "Alright, so we take them and not you guys. Perfect."

"Oh, you're stuck with us now." Glue sighed, "whether you like it or not."

"Looks like we're all in this now." Scar said. "We'll take you all to WICKED. Trust me, you are going to need our help."

Minho briefly asked himself how he had gotten in the position where people who he didn't trust, The Vultures, Jet and now the two, surrounded him. But it wasn't their fault; it was WICKEDs. His priority was to keep himself and his friends alive, but were the risks worth it?

"Good that." The leader muttered, walking off to go clear his head.

""""""""""""""""""""

POV FROM ABOVE

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A group of 30 teens trudged through the lands reaped of life. The never-ending sky held grey hatred, ready to burst with electric fire.

The children all held promise, each of them strong and capable. Despite being taught to prepare for the worst, they could've never anticipated the evils to com.

At the front, a small group led the way with out many words exchanged between them. In the middle, their followers fell behind them. Many were injured; all were dead inside. They had a goal. Each persons' was slightly altered, each had something else in mind. But they remained a unit.

Until they reached the Crossing.

The Crossing: a large row of structures from a broken city, crumbled to the ground. A mall, a bank, a skyscraper, a school, several restaurants and boutiques, side by side for miles, riddled with Cranks. Cranks far past Gone.

""""""""""""""""""""

Scar was surprised how quickly they'd reached the Crossing. With all of the extra manpower, they had easily moved the injured and all of their supplies without much delay. He had to hand it to those Bird people, they were pretty bad-ass.

"This is the Crossing." Scar said, "This is where you all need to make a choice. We can pass through that open stretch over their without going through a building, or we can pass through that huge mall."

"What's the difference?" Thomas asked.

"The buildings a packed full of crazy Cranks. I mean, really crazy Cranks. But a storm is coming, so shelter could be useful."

"We all know what those lighting storms are like. We're going through the mall." Ross said.

"Woah, slim it Slinthead," Minho said, "I'm not ready to bump into more Cranks. We could easily pass this crossing before the lighting comes. Being trapped in a Crank Cage doesn't sound fun to me."

"That's ridiculous. We can kill Cranks. I hate to break it to you Mr. Runner dude, but you can't punch lightning."

"I'm don't have klunk brains, I know that. But he said these Cranks are crazy. I don't want my face ripped off by some 40 year old lady."

"We're going through the mall. I'm not arguing this." Ross said, crossing his arms.

"Well _we,"_ Minho motioned to the Gladers, "are going through the clearing."

"So we split up? Do you really want that? You guys, with no experience, alone in the Scorch."

"We're going with them," Scar said, pulling Dante over to Minho. "We don't _do_ Cranks to well."

"They make him crazy." Dante whispered to Thomas.

Thomas raised a brow, "Ok…"

"Fine. The Vultures are going through the Mall. Anyone who want's to join us can."

"Ross." Kit tried to cut in.

"We aren't stupid," Ross continued, ignoring his partner, "We are going to survive and you all might not."

"Ross!" Kit tried again.

The boy looked over at her.

"I'm not going through that mall." She said quietly, "I don't want to fight Cranks again."

"Wait… Kit… you can't leave us."

"We aren't going either." Fox said. Prez nodded in support.

"So we are all splitting up?" Ross asked, a look of hurt flashing through his eyes.

"You aren't being logical. We don't have to split up, you are making us." Kit accused, "A storm is better than a army of Cranks."

"I'm with you Ross. A mall has walls, walls keep things out." Jay said, she was still carrying Tate, who gave Ross a sad attempt at a thumbs up.

"I'm not in the mood to run from lighting." Tate groaned.

"Walls also keep things trapped in." Minho reminded her.

"But lighting is deadly!"

"So are crazy people!"

"A mall protects us from the sun."

"But not from the smell of death and decay!"

"We are wasting time bickering!"

"Well no one can agree!"

A clear divide snaked its way through the group. The majority of the Gladers stayed by Minho. Kit, Glue, Fox, Prez, Cloud, Otto Jet, Dante and Scar walked over and stood behind him as well.

"Kit…" Ross trailed, but the girl shook her head.

"I've made up my mind Ross."

Behind Ross stood Ice and Jay, carrying Tate, Tyler, Wasp, and Green. Slowly, Newt and Dana made their way over to Ross's divide.

"What the hell Newt?" Minho asked, grabbing his friend's arm.

"I'm sorry Minho," He whispered, "I don't think the storm is safe. I think the mall is a much smarter idea."

"Fine." Minho said, letting him go. "Looks like we've made up our minds then."

"Looks like it." Ross snapped. "Last chance Kit. Come with us, please. All of you. We should stay together!"

"Ross, I trust you more than anyone, and I want to be there to protect my family, but you all are being irrational!"

Ross looked at the ground, "See you on the other side then. We'll all meet in the middle I guess."

The others nodded.

After a few seconds of waiting, of hoping the other would cave, the two stubborn leaders turned in opposite direction and led their groups towards the Crossing.

The unit had broken.

""""""""""""""""""""

 _Why won't he just listen to me?_

""""""""""""""""""""

 _Why doesn't she ever think things through?_

""""""""""""""""""""

 _Look at what he did to our family._

""""""""""""""""""""

 _Look at what she did to our future._

""""""""""""""""""""

 _He can be so frustrating!_

""""""""""""""""""""

 _She drives me crazy!_

""""""""""""""""""""

 _The sky is kind of dark though…_

""""""""""""""""""""

 _This mall is super creepy though…_

""""""""""""""""""""

 _… Maybe I should've thought this through a little more._

""""""""""""""""""""

 _…Maybe I should've listen to her longer._

""""""""""""""""""""

As Ross walked through the mall, leading his small group, regrets swarmed through his mind, but he barely had time to process them. They had only been inside for a few minutes when it happened.

""""""""""""""""""""

As Kit trudged on through the sand, navigating through the wind, worries buzzed in her brain. But she hadn't even consider the possibility of what happened next.

""""""""""""""""""""

A bright light flashed, a large boom echoed through the empty air of the huge building, and an impact knocked Ross to the ground, flinging him hundreds of yards from the group.

""""""""""""""""""""

The Mall exploded. It came crumbling down.

""""""""""""""""""""

The group scattered. Newt grabbed Green and drug her in the opposite direction that Tyler and Wasp were running. Dana lifted Ross to his feet and pulled him under a staircase for cover. Jay and Ice scrambled, pulling Tate behind them.

""""""""""""""""""""

Kit nearly fell to her knees as the building went up in flames. The explosion was small, but big enough to kill the whole group if they had been close enough to it.

"Kit! There is no time for that! We've got our own problems!" Prez yelled, because, at that moment, the sky went up in flames as well.


	18. If You're Still Out There (Part Two)

OMG LOOK WHO IT IS! Ok quick little AN, you are going to get a glimpse at every one's time apart, but you won't know the full story of what happened to them just because I don't have enough time and energy to write that all out. Also know that only about 5 or 6 characters are going to be each chapter for the next 3 chapters, but every one gets a moment to shine! Ok, and Finally, It took me so long to publish because.. drum roll... I think I might have come up with a cool idea for a new SYOC, not to be started until this is over, but be on the look out for that! Ok sorry, that was a long AN, so yeah... lets get on with it! please review even if your character isn't in this!

"""""""""""""""

"Kit! Move!"

Kit ignored the yells that were erupting around her, she ignored the lighting and the intense wind. She just stared ahead, eyes locked on the dust that settled around the mall. Her entire being ached for her fallen brothers and sisters. There was no way they could've survived that explosion, deep in her soul she accepted that.

The sky around her lit up, and in a second, some one was pulling her to her feet.

"Listen Kit," Thomas shouted, "I know you're out of it right now, but just for a little while, you've got to move on."

She nodded, still absently staring at the space where her friends had been.

All ready the group had began to scatter, a quick scan around told her that the other Vultures that had followed her were no where to be seen.

"Where are the other Vultures?" She asked, snapping out of it.

"No idea, everyone scattered when the first few bolt hit. We can worry about this later, but we need to find shelter… right now."

The sky erupted again.

The lighting was heat lightning; no rain just bolts of fire. Kit's eyes skimmed over a young Glader boy, his shirt was on fire but no one stopped to help.

Thomas grabbed hold of Kit's arm and dragged him behind her. He led her through the storm, catching up with Minho and Dante.

"Have you seen Scar?" Dante asked, a look of worry on his face.

Kit shook her head. The wind was blowing sand everywhere and Kit was beginning to lose sight of everything.

"Find shelter!" Minho was shouting over and over again, a warning cry to those who could hear him.

"What, so we aren't going to round people up and lead them to safety?" Kit yelled.

"Sorry princess, but I don't know where shucking shelter is!"

Dante looked up to the sky, "We need to go… like _right now!"_

Kit stifled a growl and focused her attention on finding safety, she'd worry about the others later. It was foggy, the wind had picked up the sand and blown it everywhere, Kit realised she couldn't see anything.

"There's a fallen apartment building over there!" Dante yelled, pointing in the general direction. "It isn't very stable but maybe the others took shelter in the entrance."

The leader of the Vultures was hesitant to trust the new comer, but the drive to find her family overwhelmed her, "Alright, let's check it out." She shouted over the roar of lighting.

"We've got to hurry!" Dante reminded them, motioning for the small group to follow him to the building.

They ran to the promised shelter, a large apartment building with thin glass windows, toppled over onto another smaller building, leaving the apartment at a 50 degree angle to the ground. The door was buried deep in the sand, but there was a broken window jutting out of the ground, creating the perfect entrance.

The building was clearly unstable; parts fell from windows and plummeted 50 feet to the ground.

"Are we going in?" Thomas asked.

Lighting struck to the ground, burning through the left over stump of an iron and wood park bench.

"We're going in." Minho assured him.

He hopped through the window, landing squarely on the upward's slanted ground. Thomas and Dante followed. Kit looked out at the Scorch, desperately peering through the blanket of sand for any sign of the others being out there. She couldn't lose them all. She had to find who ever was left.

"Kit." Thomas called, offering her a hand from indie the apartment.

She brushed his hand away and jumped through the window herself.

Inside the building was extremely disorienting. It was a structure almost completely on it's side. The wall, which now served as the floor, had a slight incline, making it impossible to move up wards. The doors were now trapdoors in the floor, and the beams that held the lighting and AC units went across like monkey bars. It was like some sort of deadly jungle gym.

"I can hardly see anything." Kit whispered, fearing that some one else might be near by. "Do any of you see the others."

"No." Minho admitted, "We can just wait out the storm and find them later."

Kit nodded and let her eyes wander around the area a bit more. Instinctively she pulled out her sword, remembering what Dante and Scar had said about Cranks.

"Let's just sit down some where." Minho suggested.

"Good that," Thomas muttered, "My legs are dying."

The boys sat down, but Kit couldn't bring herself to do the same. She was on edge; she was so on edge she was nearly off of it.

Glass smashed in a room below them. Kit nearly jumped, holding her sword out towards the door below her feet.

"Calm down Kit," Dante ordered tiredly, "We're fine."

Kit rolled her eyes, "This place freaks me out."

A door creaked. Wind howled through the broken windows. Lighting lit up the room briefly, illuminating the silhouettes of Minho, Thomas and Dante for a millisecond.

And some one else? Was some one behind them?

"Hello?" Kit asked.

"What are you doing Kit?" Minho grunted, his voice void of its typical sarcasm.

"Vultures? Guys? Is that you?" She asked again.

"Kit no one is—"

Lighting flashed again and this time she saw it. Three or four figures, completely bald, pale and frail. They were the embodiment of death. They were real Cranks; they were what Gone looked like.

"Behind you!" Kit screamed.

Thomas whipped around just as a man flung his entry body at the boy. Minho grabbed his shoulder and ripped him out just in time.

"Dante! Where do we go?!" Kit shrieked.

"Don't go down, we'll get trapped. Climb the rafters!" He ordered.

Kit nodded, grabbing Thomas and shoving him towards the closest rafter. Dante followed close behind, then Minho, and Kit pulled her self up behind them.

She looked back, her eyes meeting the beady black holes of a sick man. He ran after the healthy humans like an animal running for its food. Nothing about this man was conscious, he was minion of the Flare, he was no longer a human.

"Kit c'mon!" Minho yelled.

The girl stood up on the beam, praying to any God out there that her balance would stay with her. The Cranks managed to get them selves up as well, but as they ran, they literally pushed each other to their death just to get a few steps closer to the live flesh.

Kit felt like vomiting.

"Stop looking back." Minho ordered. Her grabbed her arms and half pulled/ half lifted her in front of him so that she was behind Thomas.

 _Ok…_

The group surged forward, after a few minutes that had to jump to a new beam. Slowly they were making their way up towards the top of the building. When they got there, they'd be stuck.

"God damnit!" Minho yelled as a Crank slashed at his back. He turned around and shoved his boot into its chest. The sickening crack of bones echoed through the building as the Crank plummeted, taking several of its kin with it.

"We need to get off these rafters!" Kit yelled.

Thomas nodded, "Over there, there's a room."

Kit searched the ground, the place they'd be standing in the room was entirely made of windows. They'd probably fall through and die.

Kit thought of better options, but some one else made the decision for her.

Before she knew what was happening, a man fell from the sky above her, landing almost on top of her. The girl stumbled and tried to grab something for balance, but she couldn't stop her self from falling.

It happened slowly, at least in her mind it did. She tried to grab Thomas's hand, in fact, their fingers brushed against one another. But the weight of the Crank drug her down. She tumbled to the ground, landing right in the middle of a large glass window. She squeezed her eyes shut and listen to the sound of cracking glass.

The Crank was caught on something above her, a counter of some sort, separated from her, but still full of blood lust. It screamed in anguish and scanned the room for her.

"Kit!" Thomas screamed.

Kit didn't dare move. She didn't speak. She didn't even breathe. All she could manage was flicking her eyes up and meeting Thomas's.

""""""""""

 _She's alive. At least she's alive._

Thomas sighed in relief as his stare met the multi colored eyes of the girl below him. She was lying on the glass window, visibly unharmed, but in a very dangerous position. The only thing separating her and the ground was thin glass and 50 feet of air. The only thing separating her from the Crank was a counter top.

"Thomas, go get Kit!" Minho yelled, "Dante and I will hold off these Cranks."

Thomas nodded. He lowered himself from the beam, and dropped carefully on the ground. As quietly as possible, he slipped through the door and landed on a counter top just above the Crank. He needed to find away to get to Kit with out alerting the Crank or breaking the window.

With all of his heart he willed Kit to stay calm.

 _I'm coming,_ he promised.

"Hurry up Thomas!" Minho yelled, "We can't hold 'em off for ever!"

Once again, the boy tried to lower himself, but his attempt was quickly interrupted. The Crank whipped its head up, catching sight of Thomas and giving him a… smile?

With that, the Crank launched it's self at the window. Thomas grabbed hold of the counter top with one hand and let him self drop with the other. He grabbed onto the collar of the Crank's ripped shirt, suspending him the air just above Kit.

"Roll Kit!" Thomas screamed.

Kit took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and rolled to the side. The glass made a sickening cracking sound, a sound far worse then breaking bones.

She stifled a cry, trying desperately to keep calm.

The Crank was to heavy for him to hold with just one hand, his fingers were turning red, his knuckles turned white and his arms shook.

He couldn't hold it much longer.

The Crank slipped from Thomas's fingers and landed on the glass, right next to Kit. It thrashed at her, cutting into her leg with its nails and biting into her calf. She desperately tried to hit it off with her sword, but it was no use.

"HELP!" She choked, the pain bubbling up in her voice.

Thomas's mind race a mile a minute, he jumped from the counter, landing on an untouched windowpane a few inches from Kit. He grabbed a loose metal pipe, clutched onto Kit's hand and with all of the courage in his body; he rammed the pipe into the glass, shattering it into thousands of pieces.

Kit screamed bloody murder.

The Crank held to her leg by nothing more than its teeth, but the girl managed to kick it off. When she was free, hanging 50 feet above the ground by some bozo she'd met a week ago, she really let herself freak out.

"Kit, it's ok, I've got you!" Thomas assured her. "You need to stop moving, you're going to slip."

Her eyes held his as tightly as their hands held each other.

"I'm not going to let go. Just take a deep breath."

She nodded, letting her breaths slow ever so slightly.

Behind him, Thomas felt Minho dropped to the ground, in front of him, on the other window, came Dante. The pair both helped pull Kit back into the building, letting go only when she was securely inside.

She sat on a section of wall just a few feet from him, clutching her knees to her chest and trying so hard to suck in the tears.

"It's ok, you're fine now." Thomas said, sitting beside her.

She bit her lip and looked at him. Tentatively, he placed an arm around her shoulder, solely for the purpose of comfort. She was traumatised, understandably so.

She let him keep it there; in fact, after a few seconds; she leaned into him, breathing softly. He saw her wipe her cheek out of the corner of her eye, but he didn't speak a word of it.

""""""""""""""""""

His ears rang. But they shouldn't have been ringing. He was dead… wasn't he?

The explosion had knocked the breath out of Ice. Fire and heat sprayed across his body. He had fallen to the ground but the ground had collapsed beneath him. When he landed on the earth once more, his vision went black, his bones smacked against the hard ground and pain echoed through his skull.

He didn't scream or cry out, because the second his body ricocheted across the ground, he assumed he was dead.

But the ringing in his ears didn't stop. When his eyes fluttered open, all he saw was a blur of blackness, dark blotches with scattered rays of light.

A muddled shout sounded, but Ice couldn't make out what it meant or who gave it.

It came again, distant but clear, "Get the hell up!"

Ice tried to open his eyes again. He tried to move or say something or even take in more than a shallow breath.

"Ice! Please, please wake up!" It wasn't a shout; it was a plea. A desperate, loud, urgent plea.

Some one was on top of him, shaking him desperately. A fiery pain ripped through his ribs. The only thing he could manage was a low, faint murmur, "It hurts, stop, please."

His eyes opened slowly and the blotches formed into figures and people, his hearing cleared and so did his head.

"Ice! Wake the fuck up!" It was Jay. She was terrified, her hair was covered in dust, her face was bruised and blood ran down her cheek along with a single salty tear.

Ice forced himself to sit up, ignoring the terrible pain clawing through his lungs.

It took him a second to really absorb his surroundings. Around him rocks crumbled from the walls, above him he saw the mall, the floor that he had been on before the explosion. He had fallen down a whole floor, into some sort of tunnel system. Jay was next to him, bloody and bruised … but alive, clutching a small flashlight like it was a lifesaver in the middle of the ocean. At his feet, lay Tate, unconscious or possibly dead.

"What happened?" Ice asked.

"I-I don't know. There was an explosion and Tyler led us over here. The ground fell from below our feet and now we're-we're here."

"Where is Tyler?" Ice asked.

Jay shook her head, "I don't know. He was with Wasp. I can't see either of them." She choked.

"It's ok, don't worry." He urged, wincing in pain as he stood to his feet. "Tyler? Wasp? Are you guys down here?"

Jay shook her head again, "I already tried that."

Ice swallowed hard, "How's Tate?" He walked over to the girl, she had no visible injuries other than her head.

"I think she just got her brain rattled." Jay sighed.

"What about you?"

"What about you?" Jay snapped back, "I think you broke a rib."

"It's fine. Don't worry about me. We need to find the others and get out of here."

"The others aren't here, they ran the other way as us." She paused, "Ice, We can't get back up, it's to high. The only way out is forwards."

Ice nodded, "Ok, let's fix up the stretcher and go forwards."

"It's completely smashed, we won't be able to fix it."

"Tate! Jay! ICE!" The yells came from the other side of the wall, a wall made entirely of rocks crumbled to the ground.

"Tyler?" Jay asked, standing to her feet and running to the wall. "Tyler? Is that you?"

"Yeah! Yeah, it's me! Where's Tate? Is my sister ok?"

Ice scooped the small freckled girl into his arms and brought her to the wall, "She's fine, I've got her with me now."

"Can you break the wall? Is there any way for us to get through?"

Jay pulled at a few rocks, trying desperately to break down the barrier.

"Jay! It isn't stable. I don't think we can get through." Ice said, "we just have to go around. We'll meet up with you all on the other side."

"No! Ice, I need to see my sister!" Tyler said, "I need to know if she's ok."

"Tyler, calm down." They heard Wasp say.

"Tyler I've got Tate in my arms right now, I promise she's safe."

There was a pause, then a sigh, "Hurry. We need to get out of here fast and find the others."

"Alright, alright. Let's go."

Ice tightened his grip on the unconscious girl. He began to walk down the dark passage but Tyler's voice sounded again.

"Jay, Ice," He had a desperate tone, "please take care of her."

"I will. I promise she'll be safe." Ice swore.

""""""""""""""""""

They'd been walking down the tunnel in silence for about and hour and a half when Ice needed to stop and readjust.

"Do you want to find a better way of carrying her?" Jay offered.

"No, she isn't that heavy, I'm just exhausted."

"Ok, let's just sit down for a second and take a break then. Maybe I've got some food in my sack."

Ice nodded. He set Tate down on the ground carefully and then sat down next to her, cradling her injured head in his lap. He let his own head rest against the stonewall of the underground tunnel. His eyes closed, his heartbeat slowed, and for a second he let him self be still.

"Ice," Jay snapped, "get up."

"I just sat down," He groaned.

"No… it's been an hour."

The boy nearly sprang to his feet, but Tate's heavy head in his lap held him to the ground, "What! You let me sleep for an hour."

"Calm down," Jay insisted, "You were exhausted, I would've let you sleep longer but something is wrong."

"What?"

Jay looked at her feet, "There's water on the floor. At first I didn't think that much of it, but it's flowing at a steady pace. I think we should get moving before it starts flowing faster."

Ice nodded, "Has Tate woken up?"

"Her eyes fluttered," She said, "but nothing else."

A frown tugged at his lips, he scanned the lifeless body feverishly. A sudden anxiety built up in Ice as he realised that she might be in a critical condition and his nap only lengthened the time she was not getting medical care.

"Jay, Jay we need to go right now." His voice was sharp and his breaths were uneven.

And suddenly, the girl knelt down next to him. She place her hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes.

"Hey, look at me." she said with a steady voice, "Stop freaking out."

Her harsh sarcasm was comforting; it assured him that things could go back to their typical crazy life.

He nodded, "Ok. You're right, you're right."

"Now c'mon. Stand the fuck up and let's get out of this place."

Ice couldn't help but laugh at that. He grabbed Tate in his arms once more and began walking down the long tunnel, lit only by the small flashlight Jay carried with her.

"Thanks Jay."

The girl grunted, "We aren't out yet, so don't thank me now."

"Where do you think the water is coming from?"

She shook her head and kept walking forward, "I don't know. I just really hope it isn't hurting any of the others."

"How could water hurt the others?"

Jay shrugged. "Do you want me to carry Tate for a bit?"

"No, I'm fine." He said quickly, before giving a slight smile. "We need to keep going. When we get out of this tunnel we'll find Wasp and Tyler and then Ross and Kit and the rest."

From below his chin, Tate made a small groaning sound, "Thank you guys." She choked out, "I love you both."

Even Jay couldn't resist smiling, "Don't thank us yet."

""""""""""""'''''

Of course, the happiness and relief was short lived. For around the trio, the lives of their closest friends hung by thin threads. At that very moment, two were running for their lives, two were clawing for their last breath, two were lost in the dark, and in the desert, the last few gazing upon the light of day, clung to their sanity as it slipped from their fingers.


	19. If You're Still Sane (Part Three)

Ok, so poor editing on this chapter because I was in a rush to publish. I got quite a few request about info for the next SYOC and all I am giving out to every one is a small easter egg hidden in this chapter, so comment if you found it. Enjoy and warning, there is some heavy stuff in this chapter. You all have no idea what you're getting into... dun dun dun.

Otto stared ahead blankly. A thousand thoughts zipped through his head, but he didn't express any of them. He didn't hate the people he was stuck with, he just would've preferred to be stuck with people he was comfortable with… or people he trusted… or people that didn't freak him out. Scar and Jet didn't exactly fit those guidelines.

It had been 3 hours since he'd last seen a member of his actual family. When the lighting struck, he darted off. At first, he ran in fear. But, after a few seconds, he gathered his thoughts and turned back to find Kit, Cloud, Glue and the others. Of course, his poor sense of direction led him to be completely lost. He found Jet and Scar pretty quickly, and the three of them began looking for the others right away. Waiting for the clouds to clear might've been smart, because after a few hours, they realized they had no idea where they were.

"We need to find the Crossing again." Scar said, heaving a sigh.

"The others probably already crossed the crossing." Jet muttered.

"Ok, well can we all at least stand up and go _somewhere_?" Otto pleaded, rubbing his temple.

"We should really have a plan." Jet trailed.

"Yeah, well we need to find the Vultures… sooner than later please."

Otto scanned the horizon; he was frustrated, needless to say. It was really stressing him out that he didn't know where the other Vultures were.

He inhaled deeply, held it, and exhaled. "We need to get moving."

"We aren't far from the WICKED base," Scar said, unsheathing his weapon and inspecting the silver blade, "It's just past the crossing."

"Alright, then let's get moving." Otto suggested impatiently, tapping his fingers against his legs.

Scar shook his head, "Not yet. We need to give the storm time to pass. Give it an hour."

Otto through his hands up, "I'm not sitting here for an hour." He stood up and walked to the door way of the small gazebo they'd taken refuge in. He peered out at the Scorch, taking in it's emptiness. His mind hadn't even begun to wander when a figure was suddenly in front of him. Otto didn't even have time to call out before the large rock came smashing down on his shoulder. The pain traveled through him like an electric current and he couldn't help but scream.

""""""""""""""""""

"Otto!" Jet cried as the dark haired boy crumpled to the ground. Where the Vulture had once been standing now stood a tall man with a buzz cut and a thick scar across his eye.

"Ello love." He sneered, letting his eyes wander over Jet's body.

The girl stumbled backwards, patting her legs to get a hold over her small dagger.

"Don't even try." The man said.

Six other large and intimidating men pushed their way into the building.

Scar stepped forward, but it only took a few seconds for the men to disarm him. A dark skinned man punched him in the center of his stomach and another two began wailing on him together.

Jet heard Scar struggling to fend them off, but she didn't dare take her eyes off the man who was gawking at her as if she was a fine slab of meat. "Tie them up boys and let's take 'em to the base." Baldy ordered.

Before she could react, two hands clamped down on each of Jet's arms. The hands wrenched her arms backwards and Jet had to bite her lip as hard as she could to stop her self from crying out in pain.

"What the hell do you guys want?" Scar demanded. He had a man holding each of his arms and rope tied around his wrists, binding them together. Even still he fought against them. "Get the hell off me!"

"Calm yourself," One of the men said to Scar, it was an almost genuine tone.

The group forced Jet and Scar out of the building. They dragged Otto behind them; he was conscious but loopy from the pain.

"Just please tell us what you want." Jet begged.

Baldy laughed, "Don't grovel sweetheart. It's unattractive." He stepped in front of her, motioning for the man holding her to stop walking.

Jet inhaled sharply and refused to leave his eyes.

"You're real pretty girl." Baldy smirked in a low, seductive tone. He took a thin, boney finger and drug it from her cheek all the way down to the base of her neck, lingering on her collar bone. "Do you have a pretty little name?"

"Yeah," Jet snapped, she sucked in and launched a ball of spit right into Baldy's scarred eye, "It's FUCK YOU."

He laughed, a deep an deadly laugh. "Oh, I like 'em feisty!" He pulled back his hand and sent his palm flying into Jet's cheek, hitting her with a deafening smack.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Scar screamed, struggling against his restraints.

"I'm fine Scar," Jet called, taking in steady breaths.

"No! No, get off of us!" Scar kicked out the legs of one of the men holding his arms. He twisted around and sent his elbow into the gut of the other.

The man holding onto Jet let go and darted off to go help the others with Scar. With free hands, Jet was able to pull out her knife and charge to Scar's side.

The men were piling on top of him, but Jet dove forward and cut his hands loose.

He looked at her in the eyes for only a second, "Jet, step back. Help Otto." Something was off about him, his pupils were dilated, his breaths were short and quick and his teeth were clench. He almost looked… crazy.

Jet nodded. She stumbled over to Otto and pulled him into her arms. He was losing consciousness.

"Oh God, this really hurts." He groaned.

"Yeah, just hold on, I'm going to try to set it."

He winced, clenching his fists and trying to manage the pain.

Jet glanced up to see how Scar was doing and almost gasped at what she saw. The strange looking teen was dancing about the group of men, blade out and covered in their blood. Two of the men were laying motionless on the ground, another was staggering but still up.

Scar was terrifying. Jet had just met him, and yet at that point Scar was completely unrecognisable to her. His eyes were wide and his teeth were barred like some sort of animal. He slashed at the staggering man, slicing into his stomach with his scythe. The man crumpled to the group and Scar jumped over him, slicing through his chest. The fallen man spit up blood and lay motionless.

Baldy lunged at him from behind, but Scar jumped out of the way just in time. He slashed but Baldy dodged. He jumped to the side and tried again, over and over.

He sliced into another man's legs, forcing him to collapse on the ground. Scar cut through his throat and kicked him to the ground.

At that point there were only three men left standing. Jet bit her lip and silently begged Scar to stop the killing. Blood sprayed across the desert, speckling her nose with drops of the warm, thick liquid.

"Jet, I can't keep my eyes open much longer." Otto groaned.

"It's ok, you aren't dying." Jet assured him, "It's just the pain, I think your shoulder is smashed and your body is forcing you to pass out. Don't fight it."

She should've helped him, she should've done something to take some of his pain away, but she couldn't stop staring at Scar. Another two men lay on the ground, leaving Baldy left standing. As Scar reached for his second blade, a katana sword, Jet realised what was wrong. Scar wasn't in his right mind. He was killing these men and not even really comprehending what he was doing.

As he cut through the thick tissue in Baldy's arm, Jet called out, "Scar! Enough!" Baldy lunged but Scar dived and slashed the back of his knees.

The man staggered but did not fall. He was losing, but he didn't seem to let it affect him. He had something else planned; he had a back up.

"Scar! Look out!" Jet screamed. Baldy reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small dark grey and gun.

"I didn't want to waste my one bullet on some lousy kid, but you killed 6 of my men, so I'm ending this."

Scar wasn't even phased. He shot forward, smacking the gun out of the man's hand, sending it flying into the sand.

"Scar, don't!" Jet screamed, "Don't kill him!"

With out hesitation, Scar sliced his scythe through Baldy's throat, killing him almost instantly.

Jet felt like vomiting.

Scar blinked several times in a row, as if he had just woken up from some awful nightmare. He looked around at the men and then very carefully wiped the blood off his face. His eye's met Jet's briefly, and her look of pure horror told him he had just done something very bad.

"Jet…" He began. His body swayed, and before he could continue, he to collapsed to the ground.

Jet swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath. She was in the middle of the desert with two unconscious boys and 7 dead men. After a few seconds, when she was sure every one around her couldn't hear, she let herself breakdown. She let herself cry for the dead men, for Otto and Scar, and for her self and everything she'd been through.

She just cried.

""""""""""""""""""

"Gosh, it sure is dark in here." Tyler said after a long time of empty silence.

Wasp hummed in agreement and continued walking through the dark tunnel.

"Are you cold or tired or anything?" Tyler asked, skipping a step to catch up to the long legged girl. "Do you want to take a break?"

She shook her head. It was hard to see in the tunnel, but he could make the faint light bouncing off of the slightly golden strands cascading into the dark river that made up the rest of her hair.

"Do you wanna talk? You haven't said anything in hours. I'm starting to go crazy up here in my head."

Wasp stopped dead in her tracks. She whipped around and opened her mouth, pointing right at Tyler with a stern expression that told him that she was about to tell him off. But, she just held the position as if she was frozen in time. Her jaw remained slack as her eyes searched his.

"What? What's wrong?"

Slowly, her lips pursed. "Nothing. I'm fine. I just don't want to talk."

She turned around hesitantly, as if she had just surprised herself as much as she confused Tyler. He knew something was wrong but he also didn't want to pry.

"Wasp, you know you can talk to me. I'm not going to judge you… or what ever."

She shook her head again. The light danced through the streaks.

"Its nothing."

" _It?_ So there is something." The boy picked up his pace so that he was shoulder to shoulder with his fellow Vulture.

She rolled her eyes, "No, there isn't."

Despite being a very well-mannered and easy going person, Tyler found himself feeling… angry. Why couldn't she trust him? He only wanted to help her, make her feel safe. He'd been nothing but honest with her through out there time as friends. They'd gotten closer in the past month and he felt like he could tell her anything. So why didn't she feel the same?

He reached out and grabbed her muscular shoulder, forcing her to stop and look up at him.

"Wasp, I get it if you have something you can't tell me. But if you are just holding back because you think I'm going to get mad at you or think differently of you… well… I don't know, that kind of hurts."

Wasp looked down, she refused to meet his eyes. "It's stupid."

He placed his hand under her chin and gently pushed her gaze towards his, searching her eyes with his light blue ones.

"Wasp, seriously. You can tell me anything."

She nodded, "Ok. Ok." She bit her lip, racking her brain for the best way to start. "I-I've felt like, for a long time, like I might be… I don't know, like I might be… um—"

"Wasp. Just tell me."

"Ok, you really want to know?" She asked, her voice rising slightly, "I think I'm going insane."

A shocked expression filled Tyler's face. "What?"

"I think the Flare is taking over my mind again!" She threw her arms up in the air, "I've found my self getting angrier, more violent, I nearly bit Jay's head off the other day just because she borrowed one of my knives. I've never lost my temper like that before.

"So what, you're grumpy. We all are."

She shook her head. "It's not just that." Wasp took a deep breath. "I wake up sometimes in the middle of the night from these horrible night mares where I'm… I'm reliving the night Saph killed herself. Every time when Ross tells me she's dead, I squeeze my eyes shut, and in my head I tell my self 'I killed our leader'."

"That doesn't—" Tyler began to mutter

"It does mean something! It has to mean something!" She cried, "I remember the day Saph and I first met... I was alone. All the rest of you were found together, but I was alone. I told her that none of us were ok, I told her that she was going to kill her self. I knew that our leader was going to kill her self! On top of that all, that crazy crank woman knew my name. These can't just be coincidences!"

"Ok, so some weird shit happened to you. It doesn't mean your crazy."

"What about my tattoo. Subject V6, the Crank." Her head turned to the side, breaking the stare. She sniffled slightly; Tyler could tell that it was taking a lot of her energy to stop her from breaking down. He honestly felt the same way.

"So what," He said, breaking the long silence. "Wasp, if you're a Crank, then so be it. To hell with this world anyways. But, look at me," He ordered lightly. She met his eyes again, "I don't believe for a second that you are crazy."

The girl smiled faintly, just enough to give Tyler the confidence to keep going.

"I'm not kidding." He swore, "WICKED is just playing games with your mind. They want you to think that you're a Crank. They are testing you."

"Tyler, WICKED is done with us. Remember?"

"No. No they aren't." The realization hit Tyler right there. It hit him like a brick right in his face. "WICKED _isn't_ done with us." He let out a laugh of… of anger and shock and confusion… and… and hatred. "We are _still_ part of the trials, and you are just another subject."

"Tyler—"

He lunged forward, grabbing her shoulders, "Don't let them get inside your head. You're fine." He smiled, "I promise you, you're fine."

Wasp shook her head. Her jaw hung open. "Tyler, th-this is a big accusation. It's _really_ serious for you to say that we are being tested. I mean, that's a big problem."

"I know, but think, you aren't the only one that has been feeling different. And think, the bomb? Crank's can't plant bombs. And the tatoos and the messages! They're all related."

"Ok… maybe you're right." She agreed, "So, so maybe I'm not crazy."

"No, you aren't."

"Oh my God… WICKED is still testing us!" Wasp concluded, "We need to get out of here! We need to go tell the others!"

Tyler nodded, "Yah, you're right." He grabbed her hand and began pulling her down the poorly lit tunnel with a new motivation and drive.

Wasp smiled, "Thanks Tyler," she whispered.

He turned back and met her eyes, but didn't stop walking, "Seriously, anytime."

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"I'm coughing up more sand than air."

Cloud rolled her eyes, "Fox, you don't just cough up air, and you aren't even coughing up sand."

"Jeez, sorry. I was just trying to… I don't know, break the silence or something."

Cloud frowned, "Silence is ok sometimes Fox."

"It's been 3 hours since we lost the group. We need to figure out something, and that only happens through talking."

"Could both of you cool it?" Glue hissed, "I'm trying to use the sun as a compass."

"That's not how it works dumbass, that sun can be used as a clock not a compass." Prez said between grit teeth.

"Yes it can. It rises in the east and sets in the west."

"It's cloudy out." The medic murmured.

Glue sighed and sunk into the sand, resting his headrest into his hands.

"Did any of you—"

"No Cloud, no we did not see where the others went. None of us could see through the lighting and sand just like you." Prez groaned, rubbing his temple.

"Ok, you know what Fox? You are really starting to get on my last nerve."

"Oh really Pipsqueak, do you want to go?" The pale skinned boy stood up and straightened his back, towering several inches above the petite girl. He raised a thick dark brow.

"Any time friend." She hissed, tossing her bow to the ground.

"Cut it out. Both of you." Fox snapped, stepping between them. He glared at both of them with his slit, hazel eyes.

Cloud crossed her arms and rolled her eyes again.

Prez huffed and looked out to the horizon.

His eyes scanned the thin line where the sand and sky met. The small group of four Vultures lost the others in the storm. As the lighting hit everyone scattered, the four of them found each other again. It was a happy reunion at first, lots of hugs and "Thank God you're ok's". But after a few hours of wandering, tempers ran high and energy ran out.

After a few seconds of pointless staring, trying to avoid the eyes of the people he loved (but at that moment people he couldn't stand) Prez's gaze fell upon a small structure, one of the buildings that made up the crossing, only two stories a high and smaller than the Base.

"Look, there is shelter. We can go wait out the storm in there."

"It's already almost over." Glue said.

"Yeah, but the sand is seriously killing me." Fox reminded the group, "Let's just stop in for a second."

The others nodded in agreement.

They began walking towards the horizon and shortly arrived at the boxy sunbaked establishment.

As the group entered the building, one by one through the single door, it took a second for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. Just as it appeared on the outside, the building was small. Right in the beginning there was a desk, like a reception desk, and rows and rows of smaller desks. The walls were covered in shelves and filing cabinets, and each of those were scattered with papers and stuffed with different files.

"Woah," Fox gasped, walking through the room slowly. His fingers traced over the black letters labeling each metal filing cabinet. His eyes rolled over each word, taking them in with huge curiosity. There were about 18 cabinets all together, and as far as Fox could tell, the cabinets came in pairs of two.

"Experiment A," He read, "and this one right next to it says A Subjects."

"Yeah this must be some sort of office building." Prez sighed, taking a seat on the ground right next to the door.

Cloud took a look over the room her self. She read each file cabinet carefully. The first 8 all read Experiment A and then A Subjects, Experiment B and then B subjects, and ending at D. As she read the labels something dawned on her. She began realizing what it meant but it was to late. The ninth file read Hidden Trials; the tenth read City Subjects.

The eleventh file read Experiment Vultures, and then Vulture's Subjects.

"Guys," She called with a shaky voice. "You need to see this. Now."

The three boys jogged over to her.

"What's up?" Fox asked with a slight trace of worry in his voice.

"Look." She pointed, mouth a gape, at the drawer.

"What the hell?" Prez demanded, opening up the drawer that read Vulture's Subjects and pulling out a manila-filing folder. He flipped through the first few pages, stopping at a page with a black and white photo of a younger looking Ice. He was probably only seven, and in his hand he held a black metal sign that read Subject V7. Below the photo there was a small descriptor box giving his height, weight, eye color, hair color, foot size and real name: Zachary Aaron. Cloud couldn't help but notice that the eye color read "brown".

"These are records before our mutations." Cloud pointed out.

"What is going on? Who put these here?" Glue asked.

"WICKED." Prez hissed, "WICKED did this."

Cloud let the boys shout out questions and demand answers as she flipped through a few more of the records. She pulled out her own, noticing that she too had brown eyes before the flare, but she had remembered that. The records seemed like something the others would want, so she began stuffing them into her bag. Cloud had gotten her own, Ice's, Green's and Wasp's, when a weak demand came from the other side of the room.

"Put your hands up where I can see them."

Cloud whipped around, bow notched and ready as quick as a wink, only to be met by a small figure standing about 15 feet away from the group. In one hand it held a flashlight, in the other, a small pistol.

"Put the bow down or I'll shoot." The person, obviously female, ordered.

"Put it down Cloud." Glue told her. She obliged and slowly lowered her weapons to the ground.

"We don't want any trouble," Prez promised, squinting to make out the shape of the woman under the harsh light, "just put down the flashlight for a second and we can talk." She didn't respond, but she did lower the flashlight slightly.

With out the fierce glow, the Vultures could tell she was short and thin, obviously underfed, but yet she still gave off a healthy glow. Her hair was the color of light caramel, but it was tied back into a bun that had been neat once, but was now falling apart. She wore a turtleneck and slacks, and a pair of thick-lensed glasses. Her face was brushed with smudged makeup, just enough to give her a professional appeal. She must've been in her late twenties to early thirties.

"You're a scientist. Aren't you?" Cloud asked, taking a step forward.

"Don't you dare move." The woman ordered. The gun in her hand shook, but she stood unflinching.

"Cloud." Prez warned, sticking out his hand and holding the girl back. "Please," He continued, "just let us go. You don't need us here."

"I know who you guys are. I know that you have value but I don't care anymore. I don't care about WICKED or the Experiments or the damn Flare!" She screamed. "They killed him. They killed my fiancé because he got infected." A tear slipped down her cheek.

"I'm so sorry." Prez tried.

The woman ignored him, "but you all are immune. You all are survivors. Marcus would've done something with that! He would've helped to find a cure if he—he could survive. He would've been _useful_!" She sucked in a deep and ragged breath. "My name is Dawn Andrews, I'm a researcher for WICKED. I was one of the best and I was youngest, or at least that is what Ava Paige always told me. But guess what? That doesn't matter now because all of this has gone to shit!" She stomped her foot against the ground.

"Please, Dawn, calm down." Fox urged still holding his hands above his head. "We can help you. We can help you get away from WICKED."

"Oh, I'm not trying to get away from WICKED. I'm trying to get away from the world."

She clicked the safety off on her gun and aimed it right at Cloud.

"You know, it's funny. The group of scientists that focused on you Vultures said that the females of the group, on average, had more mental complications then the males. Of course, there was the one that killed her self. You know that we did that? Entirely on accident too."

"Shut up!" Cloud ordered, "Don't talk about Saph that way!"

"Oh we really didn't mean it. We weren't supposed to be involved in your lives anymore but we made a slip up. Anyway, then there is the other girl… oh, what's her name? Oh, never mind any of your names; she thinks she is turning into a crank. Her mind is literally killing itself. Then there is the one with all the blood on her hand; she's a real maniac you know? You all should actually be kind of worried about that, I mean she doesn't look dangerous but you know," She motioned to her gun, "it's the small ones that always surprise you. She doesn't even know; she never even got her full memory back… so she was a fuck up. There more, guys and girls alike, but I really can't remember. And then there is you."

Cloud shook, "W-what's wrong with me?"

"You've got a whole in your heart, bitch."

"No!" Prez screamed.

Dawn pulled the trigger and the gun fired with out hesitation. Cloud closed her eyes, letting the bullet sink into her skin. But, it never came. When her eyes opened, Glue was on top of Dawn, pinning her to the ground and Prez was sprawled on the floor, bleeding profusely though his shirt.

"Oh my God!" Cloud shouted, dropping to her knees. Her hand flew to her mouth and she let out the most girlish scream she could conjure. At any other moment she would've scolded her self, but she couldn't stop her self from losing all sense of control due to the shock. "Oh dear lord. Fox, help, help me."

Prez coughed up a fair deal of blood. He tried to raise his head and examine the wound, but his energy was draining as quickly as his vital fluids.

Fox ran over and knelt down next to Cloud. "Prez, stay with us man."

The medic shook his head, with a tried breath he managed a few words, "it's a fatal wound."

"Well suck it up buddy. We aren't losing you." Cloud spat. She ripped off her shirt, leaving her only in a thin tank top; she placed the fabric over his wound and applied a fair amount of pressure to it.

"Cloud, please. Just listen to me." Prez choked, trying to shove her off with out much luck. "You can't… save me." He grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes, "I'm sorry I yelled at you today. Just… I want you… all of you to know that I'd… take a thousand bullets for… _any_ of you." He sucked in a breath and winced in pain. Tears poured down his cheeks but it wasn't the bullet bringing them forward. "You all are the best family I've ever had. M-my only regret… is not being able to spend… eternity with you all."

His eyes began glazing over. His breaths grew dangerously shallow.

"Please. No, no, please Prez. Please!" Cloud screamed. "oh God! NO! PLEASE!"

She lunged forward and began pushing on his chest at a constant rate. She grabbed his chin and forced air into his mouth, but nothing happened. He didn't move again.

"Cloud! Stop it!" Glue choked, entering the situation after finally knocking Dawn unconscious. "He's gone. Ok?"

"No, I can't lose anyone. Not Prez, please." She sobbed. Glue knelt next to her and pried her off Prez.

"Enough!" He ordered. She complied, but horror filled her face as she saw the bright red blood covering her hands. His blood.

Cloud let out a wail like no other. It started as a scream for help and ended as a desperate, dark cry for mercy.

"Shhh." He whispered. She screamed again into his shoulder, letting the pain flow through her body like a waterfall. She soaked him with her tears and collapsed into his steady arms.

Glue's eyes met Fox's. The curly haired boy was biting his lip hard. Tears poured from his eyes and his shoulders shook with silent cries. His eyes didn't leave the fallen body of his brother. Finally, he forced them shut. He thought that maybe, right then and there, the pain would kill him.

Glue didn't say anything, but pulled him into the hug as well, so that the two boys were sandwiching Cloud.

They sat there like that for 20 minutes. Holding each other as they cried for the boy they lost. After twenty minutes, Glue stood up with out a word. He took off his jacket and placed it over Clouds shoulders. He motioned for Fox to help and together they carried the body out side. He wiped his eyes; they stung as if he'd spent all day with his eyelids peeled open in a sand storm.

Glue returned inside, helped Cloud to her feet, and led her back to the body. Together, the three of them buried the boy in the sand with out another word or drop of salty water. When he was in the ground, they left him.

From where he came is where he returned. Into the lands of the desert.

LegacyIntergral, If you still read this story and are unhappy about the death of your character, please PM me.

review please :D


	20. If You're Still Breathing (Part Four)

Ok so updating every 2 weeks or so seems to be my new trend. My life is in a word, chaotic, between school, soccer, social life and sleep (the s's) but I have managed to write up another chapter. The next one will probably take a while as well because I am about to go on a service trip for a week and a half to Vietnam! Please read, review and leave suggestions. Oh, ps, There will be a time skip next chapter, I don't have enough time and energy to write every one finding each other again, so yeah, you'll see, it won't be to confusing. Enjoy! Oh Pss poor editing because the edited version got deleted, I tried to catch them all but I wasn't super careful.

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Water Levels at Feet

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"Green. Green wake up." Newt urged.

The girl made no visible effort to open her eyes… or move at all. Newt brushed the mess of blonde strands off of her dust-caked forehead and tried again.

"Green, wake up. C'mon, I need you to wake up." He lifted her head off of the hunk of cement it was lying on and forced her eyes open. Carefully, he searched the vibrant forest that was her irises for any sense of recognition, but it's hard to tell if someone is cognitive when they lack pupils.

He let her head fall to his lap, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Bloody hell." He spat, pushing her blonde curls to the side so that they didn't fall into the same water that he was sitting in.

He had woken up himself about 10 minutes ago, when the small amount of water on the ground rose into his open mouth, waking him in a fit of sputtering coughs. In a panic he nearly stepped on Green's head looking for a way out. Since then, he had briefly scanned the dark pit they were in for some sort of exit, but the top was to high for him to reach. He needed to be able to lift Green and have her look for a way out, but as far as he could see, a series of pipes and metal rafters networked across the top of the pit.

"Damn it Green. Wake up!" he shouted, harsher then he meant, chucking a loose piece of concrete at a crumbling wall.

As the small stone ricocheted off, Newt ran his hands through his dusty, straw like hair,.

"What are we supposed to do now?" He asked the unconscious girl.

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"Hello?"

Ross's deep voice echoed through the walls of the 3 story high shopping center. He scanned the empty structure around him for any signs of life but came up empty handed.

"Green?" He called, remembering how the small girl had dove from the falling blocks of concrete. "Newt?" He tried, remembering how he had ran after Green. "Guys?"

Silence filled the hazy air.

"Fuck it." The leader sighed, resting against the wall on the opposite side of the one the bomb had taken down.

"Ross!" A voice shouted.

Ross snapped to attention and searched the area once more. Through the fog of dust and sand, he could make out a silhouette of a man.

"Dana?" Ross asked the shadow. The excitement he felt got the best of him. "Dana!" he exclaimed, charging forwards towards the figure.

"Ross, no!" The voice screamed.

Ross didn't register the warning fast enough, but he didn't have to. The figure came into focus, and the baldhead and pale skin of a crank took the breath out of Ross's chest.

The realization that he was going to run right into the Crank dawned on him as he attempted to skid to a halt; his eyes widened with fear.

Just as he was inches from the crazed man, a force tackled Ross to the ground, pushing him away from the Crank.

"Get up!" Dana yelled, "We need to go! Get UP!" He pushed himself off of Ross and helped the boy to his feet, not even looking back as he took off in the other direction clutching Ross's hand.

"I'm sorry, are you ok?!" Dana yelled back to Ross.

The boy was frazzled but had enough wits about him to nod.

"Yes. I'm fine." He shouted back. Dana pulled him around a bend and down a long dark hall. "Where are we going?"

"No idea. We need to find some where to hide!"

Ross glanced over his shoulder, a dozen or so pale, bald, famished Cranks trampled over each other with the hopes of snagging a tasty snack. They had no regard for the environment around them, one smashed through a glass window with out flinching.

Dana veered left and bounded up the stairs, leading Ross behind him. He yanked the Vulture to the left and headed down a long corridor.

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Water Levels at Knees

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"GREEN!" Newt screamed, for the umpteenth time. As the water continued to rise, he scrambled to find a way to keep the girl's head out of the water. "Shuck it." He breathed, scooping her into his arms, and holding her bridal style.

 _Well I can't do this forever_ , he thought, trying to find a rational solution. He had checked the girl's pulse a thousand times, he was sure she was still alive, and he hadn't see any major injuries on her head, so it didn't seem like she had been knocked out.

 _Just take a deep breath,_ he told himself. He almost wanted to laugh at the situation he was in. At any other time, he would've been absolutely giddy to have Green in his arms, resting her head against his chest.

She stirred slightly and he—

 _Wait, is she waking up?!_

"Green," he whispered urgently, "Are you awake? Can you hear me?"

Her eyes lids fluttered a few times before she opened them completely.

"What's going on?" She asked in a groggy voice, "Why are you carrying me?"

"Oh thank God. We're in this hole or something… I'm not sure, but there is rising water, so we need to get out." He set her down slowly, letting her get adjusted to the cold water at their mid thighs.

"Ok…" She nodded, her voice still distant and confused, "How are we supposed to get out."

"Not sure," Newt admitted, "The top is high, I was thinking that you could get on my shoulders and check it out."

Green bit her lip and furrowed her brow.

"Unless... you're scared of heights." Newt said in a questioning tone.

"No, no." Green shook her head, "I am kind of afraid of shoulders though."

Newt cracked a grin. He loved the way she could make him laugh.

She wasn't smiling though.

… _oh… she's not joking._

"Um, ok, well I'll hold your hand incase you get scared."

"Alright, I can do it." Green said with a reassuring smile.

Newt knelt to the ground and grabbed her small hand, leading her to his back. Slowly, she wrapped one leg around his neck, then the other. The new, cold sensation made his stomach flip.

Green squirmed a bit until she felt stable, and squeezed his hand.

"You good?"

"Yep, I'm good."

He rose carefully, keeping her hand in his the whole time, "Watch your head." Newt warned softly.

Green squeezed his hand.

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Dana veered left and bounded up the stairs, leading Ross behind him. He yanked the Vulture to the left and headed down a long corridor.

Ross wanted to call out and remind Dana that if they were ever going to find the others, they needed to stay close to the main floor, but he had to focus on his breathing and not tripping over the chunks of ceiling and pieces of furniture that had toppled in the explosion. Dana poured more speed into his stride and Ross mirrored.

He looked back, taking a longer gaze this time. The cranks were no longer directly behind them, two flung each other off the balcony of the second floor in hopes to get just a few inches closer to the pair. As viscous as these cranks might be, they wouldn't be hard to out live.

"Here!" Dana hissed, dropping his voice to a whisper. He shoved Ross into what seemed to be a janitor's closet, jumped in after him and closed the door quickly.

"What the hell just happened?" Ross gasped, trying to catch his breath.

"I was looking for others just like you, I couldn't find anyone until I saw you. When I realized you weren't walking towards me, I thought that maybe you had found another Glader or Vulture. I saw the outline of a baldhead just in time to push you away. I guess there were other Cranks as well though."

Ross exhaled through his nose. "Well shit. What now?"

Dana shook his head, "No idea. Wait for these guys to clear out, sneak out, and find the others?"

"How long do you think that'll take?"

"No idea. An hour maybe?"

"Ok, ok." Ross nodded, forcing himself to calm down. He dug his nails into his leg and tapped his foot against the ground.

"Hey," Dana called, reaching out his arm and placing it on Ross's shoulder. He squeezed lightly, "it's ok. We'll find the others."

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Water Levels at Knees

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Green stared at the web of the metal rafters, fallen ceiling junk, and thick poles. She squinted as the small rays of light poked through the holes.

"I don't see a hole that would be big enough for any of us to fit through." Green called down to Newt. She stuck her hand through a gap. "ROSS! TYLER! ANYONE!" She cried out for good measure.

"I tried calling earlier, I don't think anyone else is around."

Green nodded, "I bet we could move this metal thing, but I'm not strong enough to do it by my self. Maybe we could move some of the fallen cement chunks around and make like a stool."

"Yeah, that could work." Newt sighed, helping Green off of his shoulders.

If the water wasn't slowing him down, Newt would've been pacing holes into the ground. He couldn't help but think of what was going to happen if they couldn't find a way out.

"Wanna help me move this?" Green asked, trying to roll a cement block.

"I don't think that's going to work, it's just a waste of time."

"Ok, well let's at least try it."

"It's a waste of time." His were sharp and quick. He wiped a thin layer of sweat off of his forehead.

"Newt why don't we just try—"

"No. It's a waste of time, we don't have the time to do that because in less than half an hour this water is going to be over our heads and we are going to have to keep our selves floating and—and—and—I— cant—bare—the thought—of us—dying— here." He took short but deep breaths between each word. His head spun and his vision blurred.

"Hey, calm down Newt." Green insisted, wading over to him, "Take a deep breath."

"Green—" He said in a pleading voice. His eyes were wide. They shook as she held his gaze.

She placed her hands on his face and forced him to look down at her.

"Newt, calm down." She ordered softly.

"I—can't—breathe—"

"You're having a panic attack," Green told him, "You just need to calm down. Hold your breath."

An idea popped into her head and before she could even use her better judgment (if she even had better judgment) and she stepped forward, pulling the tall blond's head down towards hers and pressed her lips to his.

Their lips locked and even in the intensity of the situation, Green was able to forget about everything. About the flare, about WICKED, about the water rising around them, about where the others are and what they were going to do next. She forgot about it all and fell into nothing with Newt.

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"Hey, if you wanna get some sleep, I can stay up and watch." Ross offered.

"Really?" Dana said, a little to eager for the chance to get an extra wink of sleep.

"Yeah, I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, I'm just so worried about the others."

"The Vultures are smart." Dana reminded him.

"I know, I know." Ross nodded, "I just…"

"I get it. Trust me, I get it."

"They're my family," his voice cracked, "I just want to make sure they're safe. I want to make sure they're ok."

"Listen, when I was a runner in the Maze, every day I came back I was terrified that one of the others wouldn't make it back. That 10 to 20 minutes of waiting killed me, I wanted to run out there and make sure every one was ok. But we've got to have faith in the ones we love. We have to believe that they are stronger than their trails. I know, and you know that you Vultures are stronger than anything thing that has ever been thrown at you." He smiled and met Ross's eyes.

"Thank you." Ross whispered, "Now sleep," he insisted.

Dana didn't argue. He closed his eyes and rested his head on Ross's shoulder. As he slipped out of reality, he whispered, "As soon as we can, we'll find them.

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Water Levels at Rib Cage

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After ten seconds, Green pulled away from Newt and opened her eyes slowly. Newt did the same.

"What was that?" He asked quietly.

She smiled, "I knew if you held your breath for ten seconds your panic attack would stop. I thought I could either force you under the water, or I could kiss you."

It was Newt's turn to smile, "Well I'm glad you didn't drown me. And, I'm glad you kissed me."

"I'm glad I did to."

After a brief silence, a pause from each of them, the water at his rib cage, brought Newt back to reality.

"Ok, ok, let's try to get out of here. Pretty soon we're going to be swimming."

"Ok, well before you freaked out, I found a large cinder block thing. Let's move it over here so that we can both try to lift the metal thing up there."

"Ok."

They waded over to the block, pushing the water aside to reach it faster.

"I think it was over here some where." Green remembered.

Newt dove below the water, submerging entirely for only a few seconds. He resurfaced with a confused expression.

"No way can we move that. Even in the water, the shape is to hard to carry."

Green frowned, "Could we scoot it?"

Newt shrugged halfheartedly, "Maybe, I guess that could work."

The girl crossed her arms. She was fed up with just letting the water rise around them. They were in a death trap that was killing them faster than both of them realized. "You know what, screw this." Green spat, "I'm going to go find the water source and stop it."

Newt nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, that's a good idea."

With a look of determination, she pulled her goggles over her eyes, took a deep breath, and plunged below the chilled water.

She popped back up seconds later, gasping and sputtering.

"Green! What happened?!" Newt screamed, rushing forward and helping her push the mop of wet curls out of her face.

Between deep breaths, she forced out "I… I forgot… I can't—" She sucked in another breath "—breathe underwater."

"Heyheyhey," Newt insisted, "It's ok, just breathe."

She nodded, sucking in the breaths through her nose.

"Green, I'm not always going to be here to remind you to not do things like _breathe underwater_."

She cocked her head up at him, her breaths suddenly stable, "Where are you going?"

"What? No. Nowhere. That's not the point." He shook his head. "Let's just try to stop the water."

"I'm not sure how much longer I can do this whole treading water thing." Green admitted.

"HELP US!" Newt cried for the thousandth time.

"You know no one is out there." Green whispered.

Newt nodded, "Yeah. I just thought I might give it one last try."

"How much time do you think we have left?" She asked.

He sighed, "I don't know, 20 minutes maybe."

There was a pause. Green bit her lip. She wasn't exactly sad… well of course she was sad, but this wasn't the worst way to go.

"How are you feeling about this?" She asked. It seemed all too casual for most likely one of the last conversations she was going to have.

"Um… not good at all. We're about to die."

She nodded. That was what she expected more or less.

"Let me try to stop it this time." He said. As the blond dove beneath the water, Green wonder why? What was the point? Stopping the water would give them an extra few hours maybe, enough time to tread water until they became exhausted and drowned. The ground was to far from the metal web trapping them in the pit. They couldn't leverage enough strength to create an opening.

After a few more seconds, Newt emerged, gasping for air.

"Any luck?" Green asked.

He shook his head.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Dana," Ross hissed, "Wake up"

The Galder snapped awake, rubbing the grogginess out of his eyes.

"What? What's wrong?"

"It's been 20 minutes since I've heard a sound, I think we should go out."

Dana pursed his lips, "We need to be cautious. I know you're worried but it isn't worth going out and getting mauled by bald men just to check on the others."

Ross frowned. "It's worth it to me."

"You know I didn't mean it like that."

He nodded, "I know. Let's just peak out and check. Please."

"Ok, just a quick peak."

Ross stood up and unsheathed his machete. He crept towards the door and tentatively placed his palm on the cool handle. The floor creaked below him.

"Ready?" Ross asked.

Dana swallowed hard, "Go for it."

His hand shoved down the on the metal piece, and with a soft push, the door came loose from it's lock. The wooden board swung open revealing an empty, poorly lit hallway.

"Alright, no Cranks." Dana whispered, "Let's just wait another hour or so. You can get some rest." He placed his hand on Ross's shoulder and pulled him back into the room.

Just as Ross began to close the door, a faint cry drifted through the air.

"Did you hear that?" Ross asked.

"Shhh," Dana hushed, "I didn't hear anything. Just come back."

"No." Ross listened intensely for a second.

" _Ross."_ Dana hissed.

Ross shook his head. "I heard something."

"Yay, a Crank." Dana said through grit teeth. "Please come in here for just a little bit longer."

The sound came again, Ross was sure of it this time.

"ROSS! HELP US!" It called.

"It's Green!" Ross yelled, "It's Green, she needs our help."

"Ross—" Dana tried, but the boy darted off without another word.

"Green!" He screamed, disregarding danger, "Green! We're coming!"

He whipped around the bend and hopped down the stairs two at a time.

Dana followed close behind, shouted frustrated pleas, "Ross please! The Cranks! We need to take cover!"

Ross ignored him. He landed on the first floor and scanned the area.

"HELP!" The voice called again. It was much closer, just a hundred feet to the left.

"C'mon!" The leader called, motioning for Dana to follow with his free hand.

"Ross wait!" Dana screamed. From around the corner, four Cranks charged at full speed. Ross didn't even have time to react. Luck allowed him to cut through the first with a swing of his machete, but then it ran out. The second tackled him to the ground. He was only able to move his arm enough to keep the thing from ripping his face off.

Just as the third lunged to join the dog pile, Dana grabbed paniced. He grabbed a lose piece of scaffolding and hurled it right at the creature, smacking it right in the forehead with a the hard rock. It crumpled to the ground.

Ross threw his attacker off of him and snatched his weapon up, holding it out in front of him.

"Dana, go find Green, I'll hold these guys off."

"Ross—" Dana protested.

"Now!" The Vulture ordered. He didn't look back, he didn't beg or plead, but the sound of his voice told Dana he wasn't joking around.

"Ok." Dana complied. With out another word, he ran off to rescue the girl.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Water Levels Three Inches Below Ceiling

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"HELP!" Newt screamed.

"ROSS! DANA! TYLER! WASP! ANYONE!" Green yelled, "PLEASE!" Her cries trailed off, "Please… please help us."

"Bloody hell!" Newt yelled in frustration, smashing his fist into the bar.

The water was high enough that Green had to tilt her head up to keep her mouth above the water. She was to tired from treading to make any attempt to escape, she just continued to force her head up.

"Fuck it… Newt, we're going to drown." She choked, holding back tears. It dawned on her that there was no reason to hold back her tears, it wasn't like any one would know.

"Yeah, we are." His voice shook.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't help more." She whispered.

"Green. It's not your fault. It's neither of our faults."

"But when the bomb went off, I just ran, I didn't look back for you or wait for anyone. For all we know everyone else is already dead and… and I could've done something." The words came out in gentle sobs as tear trailed down her cheeks. The exhaustion was too much, she could already feel her self slipping below the water line, and holding back tears was a waster of energy.

"Green please, please don't blame yourself. You've done absolutely nothing wrong."

"Newt—I've caused so much pain in your life. You split from your closest friends for me and if you hadn't followed me, you wouldn't be here. So much about me is messed up, my brain is broken. Some days are just hazes and I look back on them and I can barely remember didn't need this. You didn't need me, I only messed up your life."

He paused, he didn't know how to explain this to her, but he had to try. He couldn't die with out Green knowing what she'd done for him in just a few weeks.

"Green, I almost killed my self. 3 years ago I saw no way out expect jumping 20 feet off of a wall and breaking my buggin neck. Alby and Minho saved me, but every day I still wonder if I'd be better off dead. But, since I've met you, since I became your glue, since I began talking and listening and being with _you_ , I've had a purpose. You gave me a purpose." He paused searching her big eyes, "you asked me how I felt about dying, and you know what, It sucks. It shucking sucks. I don't want to die because I want to be with you. But just knowing I got to spend my last few hours with you… well that makes it a little better."

Green bit her lip. She couldn't help but smile, a dopey, sad, beautiful, terrifying smile.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"No." He responded, "Thank you." With his last surge of energy, he pushed himself forwards, grabbed her head in his hands, and kissed her.

He kissed her deeply, passionately, perfectly. It was all they needed in the world, all they could've asked for at that moment. And with their souls intertwined, they sank below the water together.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Green!" Dana screamed. He was sure she was in here, below the network of metal rafters and chunks of wall an ceiling.

He screeched to a halt and scanned the scene in front of him. He had to move something, from the way it looked, there was water in the pit.

"Hello!?" A voice called weakly.

"Newt?" Dana responded.

"Oh Dana, thank God! You've gotta get us out." His words were jumbled and short as if each one took a huge portion of his strength.

"Ok ok, just hold on." He dove to his knees and looked for the piece of debris that would be the easiest to move. "Is Green with you?"

"Yeah, she's here. Dana, I can't hold her for much longer. You've got to get us out."

Dana nodded. He tugged at a relatively small, hollow pipe about as long as a car and as wide as the steering wheel. It must've been attached to the lights.

It squealed as the metal surfaces rubbed together, but only moved a few centimeters.

"Dana please hurry," Newt sputtered.

"I'm trying." He snapped. Sweat trickled down between his eyes as he wrapped his arms around the pipe and pushed as hard as he could. It moved another few centimeters.

Dana looked down. He could see Newt treading water. His face was pale, his wet hair was matted to his head, and his eyes were full of fear. He was desperately trying to hold an unconscious girl above the water with out much luck. Her eyes were closed and her face glistened with the cold water. She slipped out of his arms and sunk below the surface.

"Dana _please_." Newt sobbed, blindly grabbing for Green's arm.

"C'mon Dana." The runner ordered to himself. He sucked in a deep breath and gave one last push. The metal fought back, screeching under the pressure.

All of a sudden, another force came and pulled at the pipe. Dana looked up to see a sweat covered, but very much alive, Ross. Together the pair moved the object just enough to create a hole.

"Don't worry, we've got you!" Ross yelled down. He ran over to the opening and stuck his hands down, offering them to Newt.

"Green." Newt gasped, trying to tell Ross something.

"What?" Ross asked, looking to Dana for translation.

"Green's down there too, under the water. He's about to pass out, he can't get her."

"Fuck." Ross stood up and yanked off his shirt, revealing an nicely toned body. "Pull him out." He ordered Dana.

Awestruck, the runner simply nodded and reached into the pit. He heaved a with one motion, pulled the blond from the pit and placing him on solid ground. Newt sputtered and coughed, trying to sit up.

"Green!" He yelled again, swinging him self around aimlessly.

Ross took a deep breath and dove into the water. The cold shocked him at first, but he came to his senses quickly. He opened his eyes and quickly spotted the girl floating towards the bottom. With a few solid strokes, he caught up to her and turned him self around. He gathered Green into his arms and used one kick to propel himself to the surface.

The leader broke through with a deep breath, making sure that Green's head was above the water.

Dana lunged forward, "She's here." He yelled to Newt, reassuring the nearly unconscious boy. Dana took the girl from Ross's arms and pulled her onto the dry ground, placing her next to Newt.

"Is she breathing?" Newt managed.

Dana searched her chest for any sign of rise or fall. "I—I don't know." He admitted.

"Here," Ross pushed Dana aside gently and stuck his head right next to Green's mouth. After a few seconds, he tilted her head, up, placed his hands on her chest and began pushing at a fast rate.

"C'mon Green." He whispered. Newt forced him self to sit up. Dana placed his hand on Newt's shoulder for moral support more than anything else. He knew Newt cared for her.

After 30 pushes, Ross tilted her head back, plugged her nose, and blew gently into Green's mouth. He did it once and began to do it another time until she shot up, coughing up oceans of water.

Ross relaxed and gave the girl space as she sucked in her own breaths.

"Oh my God." She forced out, her eyes met Newt and a huge smile spread across her face, "We're alive."

Newt smiled back, letting his shoulder relax. He nodded several times in a row, "Yes. We're alive."

Green beamed, "We're alive!" She surged forward and tackled Newt in a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Easy there!" Ross warned, but Newt only hugged her back.

He squeezed his eyes shut and held her in his arms.

"We're alive." He repeated, "They saved us."


	21. The Reunion

HI! I'm still here, trust me. I'm so sorry for the long delay. Ok warning, this chapter is a kind of transition chapter. There is no major action or anything. Now we're coming down to the final legs of this story, or so I think. Let me know if there is anything you'd like to see from your character and please don't be to harsh about this chapter, I know it's not my best work, but the next few will be better and quicker!

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Kit rubbed her arm gently. It was still sore from the incident yesterday. She blinked a few times, attempting to rid her eyes of the small grains of sand that plagued them.

"You ok?" Thomas asked.

She nodded, "Tired, that's all."

Dante walked a few feet a head of the others. He was leading them to a center point on the other side of the Crossing. He claimed that it was almost a beacon; that Scar would come there and the others would be drawn there.

"How much further, Dante?" Minho asked.

"Just a few minutes." He called behind him.

""""""""""""""""""""""

"This. This is where we should stop." Ross said. They group of 4 had been walking for a few hours or more trying to find any of the other Vultures or Gladers. They'd come to a large open area. Stone bleachers peaked out of the sand along with the marble head of president Obama. Crooked light posts spouted form the ground like corn stalks.

"It's a park… or at least is was, wasn't it?" Green asked.

Dana looked at the girl and nodded. He didn't say anything, but he couldn't help but notice her small hand was interlocked with Newt's.

Dana cleared his throat, "Yeah, I guess it was."

"Yeah, let's stop here. We can start looking again in a few minutes."

"""""""""""""""""""""""

Cloud hadn't said anything since they left Prez. Neither had Fox. Neither had Glue. They'd all walked with an unspoken agreement that no one would talk until they found the others. For Cloud, it was because the first words she spoke were going to come out as sputtered sobs. She still couldn't believe he was dead.

The sand bit at her skin but she trudged on.

They had just passed the Crossing.

She wanted to find the others desperately, but she didn't know how they were going to explain Prez's death.

"""""""""""""""""""""""

"Tyler!" Ice cried. As the group of Vultures took their first steps out of the long tunnel that had entrapped them for the last 15 hours, they reunited almost instantly.

Ice tackled Tyler with a hug and pulled Wasp right in after him.

"It's good to see you." Tyler groaned as Ice squeezed the life out of him.

"Um… a little help." Jay hissed as she struggled under Tate's weight.

"Oh God, Tate, are you ok?" Tyler asked, rushing over to his sister.

Tate let out a weak smile, "I'm fine thanks to these guys. "

Tyler flashed the pair a grateful smile.

"""""""""""""""""""""""

Things had been… _awkward_ since Scar had his little freak out. Jet had focused all her attention into Otto and his shoulder. She made a sling for his arm out of her jacket. She asked him every few minutes if he was ok. After nearly passing out, he was able to stand up and walk. He didn't need all that much attention, but Jet couldn't bare to look at Scar.

She couldn't handle the disgust and fear she felt. It was unfair, he saved them, and yet Jet just couldn't manage her feelings. So she hid them. She focused on Otto and didn't even turn her head to face Scar.

"How close are we to this center area?" Otto moaned.

"Close." Scar said.

He didn't turn around. Jet didn't want him to. She felt like a terrible person for being so upset. Scar saved her life, he saved Otto's life, and Jet felt contempt for that.

"""""""""""""""""""""""

"Look! Over there!" Minho cried. He shot up and pointed out into the distance.

"What?" Thomas asked.

Kit peered out through the sand. Silhouettes formed along the line where the sky and ground met.

"Over here!" Minho shouted to the figures.

"What if that isn't one of us? What if those are Cranks."

Minho glared at Kit, "Then let 'em kill us." He went back to waving at the figures.

Kit rolled her eyes.

"No, he's right, it's Newt and Dana!" Thomas yelled, standing up and forcing Kit to her feet.

She stared harder at the incoming people. Thomas was correct, it was Newt and Dana… and some one else.

Her eyes opened wide, her mouth hung open and then stretched into a wide smile. She couldn't stop her self from taking up at full speed and tackling the tall boy to the ground.

"Ross!" She yelled as she smashed into his chest, wrapping her arms around him.

"Oh my God! Kit!" He exclaimed, returning the hug and lifting her off the ground.

Green stepped out from behind the tall boy, revealing her self to the Vultures other leader.

"Green! Put me down Ross I need to hug Green!" Ross began to put Kit down, but before she even touched the sand she was already on top of Green.

"I missed you guys so much." Kit whispered into Green's shoulder.

Green wiped a happy tear off her cheek.

"We are never splitting up again. That's for sure." Ross admitted.

"Agreed," Kit said, pulling away from Green. "And... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so stubborn."

"No. You made a good call. I shouldn't have been so irrational."

Kit shook her head, "We are sticking together from now on."

"Is anyone else here?" Ross asked.

Green gave reuniting hugs to Thomas and Minho, and an awkward high five to Dante.

"No." Ross frowned, "Hopefully they'll find us soon."

"""""""""""""""""""""""

The sky had grown dark and the newly united group made a small fire in the middle of the Park. They shared storied of almost getting eaten, falling to their deaths and almost drowning while happily munching on some cans of beans Ross had nabbed from the mall.

"I thought I was going crazy! I mean, I just kept hearing this little voice yelling my name!" Ross said.

The others erupted in a chorus of laughing. It felt good to laugh at the horrible things that had happened in the days past, it reassured them all that those things were gone.

"Anyone over there!?" A deep voice called. "Dante?"

"Scar?" Dante exclaimed, shooting to his feet.

The firelight illuminated Scar as he ran over to his brother and wrapped him in a hug.

"It's good to see you Scar." Ross admitted.

"Hey guys." Another voice squeaked.

"Oh. Jet." Kit stammered. "Hi."

"Otto!" Green yelled, she too shot up and almost squeezed the sniper.

"Watch the arm!" Otto warned.

"What happened to you?" Minho asked.

"Crank shattered my shoulder. I think I might've died from the pain if it wasn't for Jet. She was amazing."

Jet blushed.

"Thank you." Ross said sincerely, placing a firm hand on Jet's shoulder.

"As soon as we find Prez he'll take a look at you." Kit promised.

Green gave him a gentle hug, being very careful of his injured arm.

"Is there room in this reunion for a few more?"

"ICE!" Green left Otto side and tackled the blue-eyed boy.

"Oh thank God you're all ok!" Kit squealed, dolling out hugs to the new arrivals.

"I can't believe we all found each other!" Ross said giving his share of hugs as well.

"C'mon, sit down, tell us what's been going on with all of you."

Jet took a seat next to Otto. She didn't speak, she let Otto tell the story of what happened to them.

"You should've seen Scar, it was so cool. He took out like 6 guys all by himself."

Jet felt like she was going to be sick.

The others explained their journeys. Ice talked about thinking Tate was dead and carrying her through a dark tunnel. Tate laughed and said it was a nice rest.

"I've got some news." Wasp spoke up. Her brown eyes looked golden in the firelight. "I think this might be obvious to you guys now, but WICKED isn't done with us. The explosion, the tattoos, the note, they're all trials. This is still a trial."

No one gasped like Wasp expected, but they did focus all their attention on her.

"So you think WICKED is still monitoring us?" Kit asked.

Wasp nodded, "I think we are still their data pieces."

"Well, even more reason to put an end to that awful organisation." Jay muttered.

"Speaking of, do we have any sort of plan as to how we are going to do that?" Thomas asked.

The Vultures frowned. No one had thought that far.

Before anyone could respond, a cold voice snaked it's way into their warm circle.

"Hi guys." Fox whispered, just barely loud enough for the group to hear.

"Fox, Cloud, Glue, You guys are here!" Kit called, standing up along with the other Vultures.

No one ran to give them hugs or cried happy tears. The trio looked like they'd just come from a funeral. They cast their eyes down and crossed their arms. None of them would meet anyone else's eyes.

"What's wrong?" Ross asked quietly.

Cloud fell to her knees and burst into tears, burying her head in her hands. Green ran to her side and placed her arm around Cloud's shoulder, letting her soak the blonde's shoulder with her tears.

"What happened?" Jay asked. Everyone was to shocked to move.

Fox swallowed hard. "Prez… died."

"""""""""""""""""""""""

Fox felt like he'd just stabbed each of the Vulture's in the heart. No one spoke, no one moved or cried or blinked or breathed. They stood in still silence and stared at Fox.

"I'm… so so sorry guys." Fox whispered.

"It wasn't your fault." Kit said, "…..Was it?"

"No." Glue spoke up, "He was shot by a WICKED worker. She was crazy, she kept talking about how we could'vebeen useful. She told us that some of us were actually crazy and that WICKED made Saph kill her self." Tears streamed down Glue's cheeks as he spoke. "She aimed the gun at Cloud but Prez dove in front of her and took the bullet. We tried so hard to save him, but he died almost instantly."

"Oh God." Ross sat down, resting his head on his knees.

"I'm sorry you guys had to endure that." Newt whispered.

"What'd you do with his body?" Tyler asked.

"We buried him in the Scorch." Glue choked out.

Tate wiped her eyes. Dana placed a hand on Ross's shoulder.

"You guys need to rest. We all do. We should talk about this in the morning." Kit said solemnly.

The others nodded in agreement. It seemed unreal, and if they didn't talk about it, maybe it wouldn't become real.

The happy reunions were over. No one laughed for the rest of the night.

"""""""""""""""""""""""

" _Pssst, Kit. Wake up."_

Kit jolted a wake. "Who's there?" she asked the darkness.

"It's Scar."

"And Dante."

"Look, we didn't say anything earlier because of the doctor dude's death, but we know how to take out WICKED."

Kit rubbed her eyes. "How?"

"We know a guy, some one who deals with explosives. They're stationed right out side the WICKED base and we could get just enough to send that building crumbling to the ground."

"How can we afford that?"

"Trust us, this person owes us."

Kit remained silent for a second, thinking it over.

"Can we talk about this is the morning? With everyone?"Sure," Dante said, "We just thought you might want to know now."

"Alright. Thanks. Now go to bed. We've got a hard next couple of days a head of us."

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Review please :)


	22. EVE-ning the Playing Field

**YAY! Two chapters in one week. Bad news though, I had a 6,000 word long chapter for the next chapter (second to last chapter in the story:() but my computer crashed and I lost the whole thing! Hopefully I can rewrite it better than before. Ok, so I only got like 4 reviews on my last chapter... a bit disappointing but I'm hoping for a few more this chapter. PLEASE PLEASE let me know if you want to see anything minor (not major) before the story ends. REVIEW :)**

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 _"Cloud, wanna come play wall ball?" Young Jay yelled, skidding to a halt on the upstairs floor, right next to young Cloud._

 _"No thanks." The dark haired girl smiled._

 _Jay crossed her arms and stuck out her hip, "and why is that?" At 13 years old, Jay was 5'3, a good 6 inches taller than Cloud. Still, Cloud wasn't intimidated._

 _"I'm talking to Estelle. We are in a serious conversation right now." Cloud didn't even wait for the older girl to leave before she picked up the conversation where she'd left off. "So what happened to your sister?" She paused, nodded and then shook her head, "What an awful story. I would hate to accidently tie my shoelaces to a rocket."_

 _Jay rolled her eyes, "What the heck are you saying? No one is talking to you."_

 _Cloud smiled at Jay as if she was crazy, "Estelle is talking Jay. Don't interrupt."_

 _"Your crazy! You're a lunatic!"_

 _"Am not!" Cloud cried, sticking out her bottom lip._

 _"Are too! Your just as bad as some Crank."_

 _"Stop that!"_

 _"Cloud is a Crank! Cloud is a Crank!" Jay sang._

 _"Stop!"_

 _"Jay!" A stern voice called. Jay stopped dancing around the young girl and looked at Prez. "Why are you being so mean?"_

 _"Cloud won't play wall ball with me, she's just talking to her dumb imaginary friend."_

 _"So what. Go ask some one else to play, I'm sure Ice or Fox would love to."_

 _"Whatever." Jay huffed. "You both suck."_

 _She stuck out her tongue, spun on her heels and ran off._

 _Prez sighed, "I'm sorry Cloud. You ok?"_

 _She nodded. "I don't like it when she makes fun of Estelle."_

 _"I know." Prez had tried talking to her before about Estelle. He had told her that if she ever felt like talking to Estelle, she could just come and talk to him. Cloud refused of course and got offended by the very notion. He hadn't brought it up again._

 _"Just promise me you won't ever change ok?" Prez smiled, wrapping his arm around the small girl._

 _She returned the smiled. "Ok… but you're sitting on Estelle."_

"""""""""""""""""""""""

"Hey, wake up." Two hands landed on Cloud's shoulders and jolted her awake

"Huh? Oh, sorry." She moaned, staring up at Fox.

"Don't be sorry." He said, "We're just having a quick 'plan' meeting to talk about our next step. I figured you'd want to be there."

Cloud nodded, "Yea, thanks." He offered her a hand and she took it gratefully.

Together, they walked over to the small group. It seemed like everyone was already at the meeting except them… and Prez.

"The question is, are we willing to blow up the WICKED base?" Tate asked, "I mean, there could be some innocent live in there."

Kit nodded, "I agree. We need to consider that if we blow this place up, we could be killing lots of people that don't deserve to die."

"So how about we warn them. Jet, is there some kind of intercom system in WICKED? A way for us to warn every one in there what is about to happen?" Otto asked.

Jet nodded.

"If we did that right before we set off the bomb, we'd allow people time to get out but not to stop us. Plus we'd be destroying the equipment and experiments but not the lives." Otto explained to the group.

"That's not a bad idea." Ice muttered.

Tate nodded, "We could split up into three sections, one group to set off the bomb, one group to make the announcement, and one group to ensure that all of the other test subjects in there get out."

"Jet, take out the blue print of the WICKED lab, please." Kit ordered.

Jet nodded and handed her the bundle of paper's she'd carried with her since day one. It felt weird, but also freeing, to let go of that burden.

Kit and Ross spread out the papers and scanned them each carefully. "This is the control room, it must have the sound system."

"Here is where the test subjects are held." Jet said, tapping her index finger on a square like room. "There are no current experiments going on right now so it should be easy to get all of the kids out."

"So where do we put the bomb?" Otto asked.

"Good question." Ross said, admittedly stumped.

"Right in the center." Kit said, "That way the damage will have the largest possible effect."

"This makes sense and all, but we've all failed to ask the most important question, where are we even going to get the bomb?" Glue asked.

Scar leaned forward, "I have a connection, a chemical/mechanical engineer that's very good at their job. They owe Dante and I a favor. Hopefully that favor is big enough to cash into a couple of thousands of dollars worth of explosives."

"So we're fabricating this whole plan on the hope that an old friend is willing to give us a fortune's worth of crap in exchange for a favor?" Jay huffed, crossing her arms.

Scar nodded, "Pretty much. I mean, what else do we have?"

"We could go in, take out a bunch of guards and hold Ava Paige hostage." Thomas suggested.

"She's to heavily guarded. That wouldn't work." Jet told them. "The best option is the bomb. It's the only thing big enough but simple enough to take down something as big as WICKED."

"I'm with Jet. We should trust her on this." Otto said.

Kit nodded, "Alright, so where do we find this engineer?"

"We're pretty close actually. WICKED base is about 10 miles out from here and the engineer is a half a mile before WICKED. It should only take us a couple of hours." Dante said.

"So what else do we need to work out before we go?" Dana asked.

"I think that's it for now." Ross replied, "We need to find out if we can even get the bomb before we plan any further a head."

"Ok, everyone pack up. Take only the things you need. We're reaching the end of this mission and it's crucial that we only take the bare minimum."

The group nodded and scrambled off to go pack their things.

"How sure are you about this bomb?" Kit asked Scar.

Scar frowned, "Trust me Kit, everything is going to work out."

Kit nodded slowly, "Ok. I trust you.

"""""""""""""""""""""""

"Are you going to be ok to walk?" Tyler asked Tate as the group readied them selves to leave.

Honestly, she wasn't sure. Her head still got random pulses of throbbing and she had flashes of near blindness every once in a while, but Tate was tired of being the dead weight of the group. If she said anything to anyone, she knew they'd coo "No Tate, you're not dead weight at all," but they were literally carrying around her lifeless body.

There isn't a more accurate representation of dead weight than that.

"I'll be fine. Just… I dunno, keep an eye on me or something."

"You know I'll do that anyway." Tyler chuckled.

"C'mon guys," Glue called, "It's time to head out."

Tate reached for her bag but Tyler stopped her, "Let me carry your bag at least. Please."

She hesitated, but nodded eventually, "Ok. I guess I can handle that."

"""""""""""""""""""""""

Jay carefully secured her dirty blonde hair into a knot at the back of her head, making sure to entrap any piece that would reach the thin hair tie. When she was satisfied, she let her long arms drop to her side as she surveyed her stuff. She'd decided to leave her bag, it only held a change of clothes and a 3/4 empty bottle of tooth paste. That stuff was expendable.

She slid her thin dagger into the holder on her waistband and laced up her shoes.

"Jay, can we talk?"

Jay didn't even turn around. "No Jet, I have nothing to say to you." She pulled tightly on her left lace, securing the beaten up sneaker on her size 9 foot.

"Well guess what, I'm going to speak anyways." Jet huffed. Jay rolled her eyes and turned to face the amber eyed spy. "Listen, the work I did for WICKED is something I'm not proud of. I was on the other side of same coin as you, ok? Orphaned, alone, terrified of turning into a Crank. The experiments were full but WICKED offered me protection in exchange for work. Looking back on it now, I regret everything that I did. I just want you to know that I'm sorry, and I'm never going back."

"So?"

"So I just want you to understand that I didn't have much of a choice other than to follow WICKED but I have a choice now. I want to be friends again… I really enjoyed spending time with you."

"I'm not forgiving you Jet. Get out of here."

Jet frowned. She let out a sigh. "Good bye Jay."

"""""""""""""""""""""""

The group had been walking for a couple of hours now, Green felt as though they had to be close to the Engineer's home. She had completed much of the walk in blissful silence, watching the dunes as they shaped into new forms and the sun as it slowly slipped behind the horizon.

"Hey."

Green jumped slightly at the sudden noise. She stopped walking and turned to face Newt.

"Hi." She said.

"How are you feeling?" Newt asked.

"Fine I guess."

"How are you handling this whole Prez thing?"

Green looked down. She didn't like to think about sad things.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up." Newt apologized.

"No, it's ok. I'm handling it ok I guess... I'm sad that he's gone."

"Yeah, I'm sad as well. I'm also missing some of my friends. We still haven't seen Clint or Frypan or any of the others."

She placed his hand on her shoulder. "They're smart. I'm sure they made it some where safe."

Newt nodded, "It's better that they don't come on this mission anyway. I don't want them to get hurt."

Green smiled, "See, it worked out for the better."

They walked in silence for a bit longer.

"Hey, I never said thanks." Green mentioned.

"For what?"

"For saving me when we were drowning. Seriously, thank you so much… for everything."

Newt smiled.

"You're welcome." He paused. "Trust me, it was worth it."

He looked at her soft lips hesitantly, not sure if their last kiss was real or a heat of the moment kind of thing. Green answered his question by leaning into him and closing her eyes. He pressed his lips into hers, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him.

"Well isn't that a-shucking-dorable."

"Hey Minho." Green chuckled, pulling away from Newt.

"Hate to break this up, but we're getting close to the Engineer's place. Time to pick up the pace."

"Thanks Minho." Newt smiled.

"Oh, and Green, I'm happy you didn't die as well."

He beamed a cheeky smile and darted off warning the others of their upcoming arrival.

"What a shank." Newt muttered.

Green let out a small laugh, "I like having him around."

Newt laughed as well. He thought carefully for a second about what he was going to say next."Green, I actually made you something… to thank you."

She cocked her head to the side, "What?" She smiled eagerly.

"Don't be to excited, it's quiet dumb."

"Still, can I see?"

Reluctantly, Newt handed Green a small folded piece of paper. She unfolded the paper and stared at a magnificent pencil sketch of a girl with big eyes. In side each eye was a very liberal drawing of planet earth.

"It's... me, isn't it?" She asked, looking up at Newt with a smile.

"Of course it is. Stop bloody smiling, your making me blush." Newt insisted.

Green looked down, "Thank you." She whispered. Her hand intertwined with his.

"C'mon, let's go find this engineer." Newt suggested, pulling Green behind him.

"""""""""""""""""""""""

The group of 12 Vultures, 4 Gladers and two others entered the abandoned highway tunnel. It was littered with abandoned cars, sand and oil cans covered in ash. The cars had been nearly stripped clean of all their parts, everything from the tires to the wires had been ripped out leaving only husks of metal.

"Where does this person live?" Minho hissed. Scar had warned them all to whisper.

"Over there." Dante replied. He pointed to a small hut like shelter. It a mix of drapes, tin, car doors and concrete blocks, mushed together in a 50 foot by 50-foot square house. A small light illuminated the inside and flickered every so often.

"So where is this kid?" Jay demanded, refusing to keep her voice down. She stuck out her hip and crossed her arms across her chest.

Scar scowled, "Keep it down." He stepped forwards cautiously and carefully, but loudly, rapped three times on the tin door. "Hey," He called, "It's Scar and Dante. We need your help."

There was no reply. For several minutes the group stood in unsettling silence.

Finally, the door creaked open, and a the most breath taking person stepped out.

A female, young but tall, maybe 5'8 or 5'9, emerged from the dark hut. She was thin but curvy with toned arms revealed by her tight black tank top. She wore all black, including black jeans an combat boots. Her skin was flawlessly tan, her eyes were an icy grey surrounded by dark lashes and thick dark eye browns, and her dark teal colored hair was pulled back into a low messy bun with pieces flowing in front of her face. Her ears were covered in piercings but other than that there wasn't another mark on her body.

"Shuck." Minho breathed.

The girl raised a full brow, "Who are these people?"

"Yes, time for some introductions." Dante exclaimed, "Guys, this is our friend Eve. Eve, these are the Vultures and a few Gladers."

Eve crossed her arms, "The whats and the whos?" She asked, popping out her hip.

"The Vultures and the—"

"I really don't care." She cut in, turning and reentering her home. The sound of metal clanking against metal filled the air for a second as Eve rattled around through her junk.

"What do you guy's need?" She called behind her.

"We need to cash in that favor. The one from a couple years ago."

"Yeah, ok what do you want? Fuel? Food? A kiss?"

She returned with a wrench in her hand, grease on her cheek and a smirk on her face.

"No, something a bit bigger than that." Dante trailed.

"We need a bomb." Kit burst out.

Eve dropped her smirk and uncrossed her arms. "A bomb?"

They nodded.

With out warning, Eve began laughing, letting it rise into a full on fit of chuckles. Tears poured from her eyes.

"You want _me_ to give you a _bomb_!?" She managed, "For a favor you did for me almost 4 years ago?" She slapped her knee.

"I thought you said I could trust you." Kit hissed at Scar.

"Just give me a second."

"Oh C'mon Scar. I thought you were smarter than that." Once again, the tall girl disappeared back into her home and the clanking of metal on metal began again.

"Eve," Scar called after a few seconds. "We're going to blow up WICKED."

The noises stopped. Scar smiled victoriously.

"WICKED?" Eve asked, reappearing from the makeshift house. A piece of teal hair swayed in front of her big eyes. She looked up at Scar.

He nodded, "We're here to put an end to their reign of terror."

Eve bit her lip and looked down at her shoes. One could almost see the gears turning in her head as she weighed her options.

Explosives were extremely expensive, but WICKED hit close to home. It could be worth the cost to end them. Plus, she did owe the brothers.

Her head snapped up. "Alright, you win. You can have your bo mb. But you're going to need me to help set it off."

"Deal." Ross concluded.

"So where is it?" Kit asked.

Eve snorted, "I need to finish it sweet heart. It's gunna take an hour. Why don't you all pop a squat and I'll let you know when it's done."

"Listen, we're kinda of short on time. We've got people to save, _sweetheart_."

Eve spun on her heels and leaned in close to Kit, nearly pressing her fore head against Kit's.

"Step off your high horse hun, My shit's quality and my shit takes time. If you don't wanna wait then go find another stranger in the middle of the Scorch that'll build you a death machine… or _can_ build you one."

Kit backed off and held up her arms in surrender. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'll let you do your work."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now one of you come help me." She peered at the crowd. "You." She pointed a black painted nail at Minho.

The Runner hoped up eagerly and followed behind the exotic girl like a puppy begging for a treat.

"""""""""""""""""""""""

"Hand me the Hydrogen Peroxide." Eve muttered.

"Uh, yeah ok, the what?"

She turned around and flashed a white-toothed smile, "The clear bottle of liquid stuff dummy."

"pfft, I knew that."

"Ok, sure."

He handed her the half empty bottle. She poured 50 ml into the bottle and swirled it gently to mix with the other chemicals.

"So, what's your deal?" Eve asked brushing a piece of hair out of her eyes and leaving a dirty streak across her forehead.

"My deal?"

"Yeah, who are you? Or are you going to make me guess."

Minho raised a brow, "No, guess. I want to hear this."

Eve sighed and turned back to her work, "Alright. You're an athlete, the jock type, aren't you? Impulsive, stubborn, and tough. You'd never let anything hinder your masculinity."

Minho nodded, "You hit the nail on the head."

"No, really, tell me about yourself." She bent down and rooted around through a drawer for something furiously. She spotted it and stood back up.

"Well, you obviously know something about WICKED. I was part of one of their experiments for literally as long as I can remember."

"In the Glade?"

"What? Yeah, how did you guess that?"

She tossed a dirty rag over her shoulder and leaned against the table.

"Scar and Dante rescued me from that experiment. I was going to go into Glade B. I was programmed to be the… what do you call it? Keeper of the Runners. But they helped me get away when I was escaping."

"Ha, no kidding?" Minho breathed, "You lucky shank."

Eve shrugged, "It's the long legs. They get me everything I've ever wanted."

She grabbed a cork and stuck it in the top of the bottle.

"Alright, a flame, a line of gun powder and the other three of these I've got in storage and we've got an explosion big enough to take down the worlds worst organization."

"Sweet."

"Go tell your friends. We'll be ready to roll out by the end of the night."

Minho nodded and pushed his way out of the hut.

"Get ready." He warned the group, "We're leaving in 30 minutes."

Jay smiled, "It's ass whooping time."

"""""""""""""""""""""""

"Alright, here's the final plan." Kit said, motioning for every one to gather around the WICKED map. "Scar and Dante, you guys secure the perimeter and make sure no one follows us in. Tate, Tyler, Wasp, Ross, Dana and Jet, you guys go find the subjects and lead them back here. Otto, Green Newt, Ice, and Glue, you guys make the announcement. You'll only have a few minutes after you make the announcement to get out so you guys are going to have to work together and be efficient. Jay, Fox, Cloud, Minho, Eve and I are going to set the bomb and get out of there."

Ross picked it up from there, "Timing is super important here guys. Eve has agreed to let us use her radios. She's go three exactly. Rescue squad, you guys radio in first when you have eyes on the kids. Then, Announcement squad, you guys need to make the announcement right as we light the gun powder. We have just enough powder to give us 5 minutes. Everybody exits from their closest exit and we meet up here."

"Simple enough." Ice muttered.

"Alright. Everyone suit up then," Eve ordered, "Grab your weapons. We've got a monarchy to overthrow."

"""""""""""""""""""""""

The moon and stars poked thin holes into the dark blanket that wrapped the night sky. The air was full of silence and musty twilight wafted with the breeze. Lone grains of sand sunk to the soft earth floor.

WICKED's base sat by its self in the middle of an open desert area, not even an abandoned car came some much as a mile with in its borders. The perimeter was not heavily guarded due to the structurally sound walls and the security system. No one got in or out with out approval.

19 teens waited patiently at the peak of a sand dune, just barely visible to the naked eye. They crouched like felines ready to pounce on their prey, stalking, waiting for the right moment to strike.

"What's your brilliant plan for getting in?" Eve hissed to no one in particular.

"In the off chance that nothing change in the 2 weeks I've been gone, there is a small cargo entrance that is rarely ever monitored by the cameras. Ice, if you can use your tinkering magic to disarm the door, there is no alarm system connected to it, so we could make it in undetected.

"Can do." Ice said. The Vultures pulled out their weapons.

"""""""""""""""""""""""

3 guards paced back in forth, guns in hand, patrolling the back right corner of the WICKED base.

"Wasp, Green, Cloud, you guys know what to do." Kit hissed. The girls nodded. Each of them sped forward, fists balled and weapon's untouched, completely silent. Wasp reached the officers first. With out being seen, she crouched and swept the legs of the tallest man, sending him sprawling to the ground. She snaked her hand over his mouth before he could cry for help.

Green drop kicked the second man, hitting him from behind, and when the third guard, a women, saw, Cloud was already on her back, blade just grazing her throat.

"Don't make a sound." Cloud warned.

Green hooted twice and the others came charging down the dune.

"Nice work girls." Jay whistled.

"Alright, what now?" Glue asked.

Ice walked up to the small black control panel outside the door. He flipped it open revealing a keypad and 4 boxes.

"It's a four letter key. Just give me a second." He cracked his knuckles and zeroed in on the rubbery buttons. His finger brushed over a few letters and then retreated. He scratched his head.

"Ice, we are kinda low on time." Fox hissed.

The blond wiped a bead of sweat off his brow, took a deep breath, and carefully punched in 4 keys. There was a deathly moment of silence and then the box blinked green.

The group let out a sigh of relief as the door clicked open.

"What'd you type?" Ross asked.

"WCKD." Ice shrugged.

"Classy."

"Alright, Dante, Scar, secure the perimeter. Everyone else, let's go." The teens filed in through the rectangular door.

"Woah hold up." Kit order, shoving her hand into Otto's chest. "You too Missy." She said, motioning for Tate to stop.

"What?" Otto asked.

"What do you mean 'what'?" She crossed her arms, "You guys can't go in there."

"And why is that?" Asked Otto.

"Otto, your arm looks like a murder scene. It's taped across your freakin' chest. And Tate, your head is still all fuzzy. We can't risk you getting anymore hurt."

"So what, we just wait out here?" Tate demanded.

"No, help Scar and Dante secure the perimeter. But be careful… please." She looked sincere, she really did hate to leave those two out of the mission, but it was far too dangerous for some one not at full health.

"Fine." Otto sighed, "but if your going in there, take my gun. Its not like I can shoot anyway."

Kit pulled them both into a forced but gentle hug and spun around, slipping through the door just as it closed.

Inside the base, the Vultures gapped at the high ceilings of the Cargo hold.

"I don't remember this place being this impressive." Jay whistled.

"Yeah, well things change." Jet grumbled, brushing past her. "Down this hall is the dorms where the other subjects are staying. Over here is the way to the control room and the center of the base, the Cafeteria. To get to the control room you take the first left."

"So here is where we split?" Thomas asked.

Jet nodded.

Ross scanned the crowd. "Good luck guys. Look out for eachother. We're all making it back."

The group nodded in agreement.

"Let's do this for Prez." Kit suggested.

"For Prez." The teens echoed. With that last battle cry they parted ways, heading toward


	23. Preview (Not a Real Chapter)

Hi! So in my last chapter I mentioned that I had lost all of my work, it was about 6,000 words and I'm having a really hard time rewriting. I was also just in Thailand for winter break so I've only written abut 1/4 of the next chapter. I feel really bad, so... I've decided to give you guys a little preview of what is to come! Disclaimer: these little snippets might be edited once I finish the chapter, so don't expect the exact thing in the upcoming chapter, though it will be similar.

"""""""""""

"Please exit the WCKD base now… because it's gunna blow up. Thank you." Glue cut the transmission.

"Thank you? Really? You thanked them for letting us blow them up?" Ice asked.

Newt chuckled. Glue shrugged.

"What now? Do we get out of here?" Newt asked.

"We sure do." Glue said.

"Wait," Ice called. His eyes grew wide as he began to realise something, "We've got a big problem."

""""""""""""""

He kissed the top of her head.

"Newt," Green whispered.

"Yeah?"

"My name, its Ira Aelish Richards."

New smiled into her hair. "That's beautiful."

She looked up at him, the tears drying slowly on her freckled cheeks. Her eyes shone, "Don't tell anyone, ok? I-i want it to be our secret."

"Of course, Ira."

"I love you." She whispered once again, resting her head against his chest for another brief moment.

"I love you t—"

""""""""""""""

"Jet! What are you doing?" Jay hissed, her hands still above her head.

"She can't shoot us all." Jet stated matter-of-factly.

"Jet, you don't have to prove anything to us, just come back here!" Jay called.

It was too late. Jet walked over to the women, slowly, assured. She kept her head held high.

"Do it. Shoot me. I know I didn't turn out the way you wanted. But let me tell you something, you're wrong. You've always been wrong. WICKED is the furthest thing from good."

The woman scream something, but Jet didn't care. She close her eyes and accepted her fate.

A deafening shot rang out, echoing through the high WICKED walls.

""""""""""""""

Dun dun dun da! Ok tune in soon (I'm not sure when) for the next chapter. Tell me what you think. Will the Vultures, the Gladers and Jet make it out of the WICKED base? Will Green and Newt get a happily ever after? Will I ever finish my math homework? Find out soon!


	24. Children Of The Sky

Here it is. Thank you all for everything. Not sure if this is the last chapter or not, but it most likely is.

 _"""""""""""""""""""""_

Children of the Sky, Chained to Earth With a Mortal Tie

Let Their Souls Roam Free

For They Do Not Live to Die

Hopelessly Curse, But Still a Family

No. They are No One's Labeled Property

"""""""""""""""""""""

"Dana? Are you ok?" Ross asked, placing his hand on Dana's shoulder lightly.

"Fine, just a bit nervous." The tall dark haired boy admitted.

"We all are." Ross peered around the corner and stared at the empty hall.

"Is it clear?" Wasp asked. Ross waited a moment more before answering, just to be safe.

"Yep, all clear, let's go."

The darted soundlessly down the long hall with Jet in the lead, directing their every movement. Jet held up a hand, motioning for the others to stop, listening for any sounds of movement. After a few seconds she waved them forward.

"Alright, here's the plan." Jet said in a low voice. "We need to use our stealth. WICKED still doesn't know we are here, so we need to keep it that way. The guards hold these sort of taser guns. They won't kill you, but they hurt like hell. The second a guard gets a chance to sound an alarm, we're going to be swarmed. Then only a few minutes later, the others will be swarmed. They usually keep two guards in front of the door of the experiments. Ross and Dana, for the sake of stealth, you two need to go take them out then give us a signal when it's clear. Got it?"

There was no reply.

Jet whipped her head around, "Did you guys hea—" She stopped mid sentence. Ross and Dana's lips were locked in a kiss.

Jet cleared her throat. Dana broke away, a small smirk on his lips.

"Just incase." He said to Ross, running a hand through his own black hair. "Now what were you say Jet?" He asked, ignoring the girl's beat red cheeks.

Ross was also covered in a thick blush, avoiding the dumbfounded stares of his fellow Vultures.

"Ross is gay?" Tyler whispered to Wasp.

Wasp turned to Tyler, "Really? You didn't know that? He came out to all of us a few years ago? How could you not know that?"

Tyler shrugged, "I dunno."

"Just go take out the guards. Silently and quickly please." Jet said.

"Sure thing Jet." Dana replied with a smile. He drew his machete and interlocked his free hand with Ross's.

As the pair disappeared down the dark corridor, Jet shook her head, leaning against the wall. "Boys." She muttered to her self.

The faint sounds of struggle echoed down the hall, clearly a small fight broke out. The group strained to listen to the sounds of grunting and punching but they stopped abruptly.

Wasp clenched her fists. She prayed that Ross was ok.

"Clear." Some one hissed, just loudly enough for them to hear.

Wasp sighed in relief.

"Alright, let's go." Jet ordered. They travelled down the last corridor leading them to WICKED's most recent experiment. Jet motioned for them to stop outside a thin white door with no windows and a key code on the outside.

"Do you know the code?" Ross asked as he and Dana caught up to the others.

Jet nodded, "I was pretty close with the subjects from this experiment." She said grimly as she punched four letters into the code.

"What were you, like their overseer?" Tyler asked.

Jet grit her teeth, pushing the door open to reveal about 10 young kids, around 5 or 6, staring back at the them with bleary eyes and wipe open jaws.

"I was more like their baby sitter." She muttered.

""""""""""""""""""

The first thing Kit noticed when the group spilt was how dark the WICKED base was. Maybe she was being paranoid. There was no way WICKED could know they were in there yet. But the halls seemed oddly dimmed, as if evil literally radiated from the light bulbs.

She shook her head; she needed to be more focused. They were taking on a nearly impossible task and she wasn't planning on losing anyone. She had to be at the top of her game.

"Earth to Twitch." Fox called.

Kit glared at the curly haired boy, "What?"

"You look kind of out of it… and you need to get into it." Thomas cut in, clearly noticing Kit's absent mindedness as well.

She waved him off, "I just said that."

"What?"

She sighed, "Never mind. Let's just get this going. How close are we Eve?"

"Well, seeing as I've never been here before, I have no idea." Eve snapped.

Kit rolled her eyes, "I guess I'll just check the map."

"That might be a good idea." Eve said.

Kit ignored that comment and scanned the paper revealing the different twisting corridors in WICKED's main base. Her eyes fell on the large room in the center of the page. That had to be the cafeteria.

""""""""""""""""""

"WICKED is experimenting on children?" Dana gasped.

"They were experimenting on us." Wasp mumbled.

"Not like they are on these guys. This is more like Dana's trial. It's a version of the Glade."

"What?" Dana asked, "That's awful."

Jet nodded slowly, "I protested… a lot."

"Jet?" One of the kids asked cautiously. A young girl rose from her bed. She looked tall for her age, but she was still 7 years old, tops. She had long straight blond hair and big brown eyes.

"Hey Lisa, it's been a while." Jet said with a smile.

Lisa nodded, "Why are you here? What's going on?"

Jet glanced back at the others. They looked horrified. Their eyes were wide and their fists were clenched tightly. She hoped that they hadn't lost whatever sliver of respect and trust they still had for her.

"I need you to follow me and these very nice people. We're all going to go on a field trip."

Lisa nodded again. "Ok, did Mr. Janson tell you to come get us?"

"Kind of… I'll explain it later, ok?" Jet looked up and addressed all of the kids as a whole. "Guys, I know it's late and your tired, but we really need you to stay awake for just a few minutes and do what we say, ok? Can every one do that?"

The kids responded with a half hearted "yes". They rose from their beds slowly, some of them pulling on socks or shoes, brushing out their hair or putting on jackets.

"Um… Jet," Wasp said, peeking out the door. "I hear guards. We need to get moving… like right now."

"I'll radio the others." Ross said. He quickly pulled out the small radio and spoke into it clearly. "We've got company."

"Kids, time to go. Now!" Tyler warned. He motioned them out of the hall. Wasp exited first, leading them in the opposite direction of the oncoming guards.

A small boy with dark skin and a fro of black hair, no higher than his waist, wrapped his hand in Tyler's lightly.

"Are we going to be ok?" He asked. His big lips protruded in the most adorable way.

Tyler swallowed hard, "I think so. Just stay close to me." He scanned the room, making sure that no one else was inside.

"It's all clear." Ross told him. "Let's get out of here."

"We can't fight the guards, we have to out run them. We need to make sure we are moving fast." Jet said.

Tyler nodded. He followed behind Wasp and the other kids. Jet made her way to the front to lead and Ross and Dana pulled up the rear, scanning for any guards.

Together, they escorted the kids to safety… or so they hoped.

""""""""""""""""""

"We're close, only a few more minutes." She told the group.

"Alright, lets go." Jay said with determination.

Kit, Jay, Cloud, Fox, Minho, Thomas and Eve darted down the remaining corridors, making their way towards the cafeteria quickly.

As they reached the opening to the eating area, they skidded to a halt.

"We should set up there, right in the middle of the Cafeteria." Minho suggested.

Eve nodded, "I agree."

" _We've got company."_ The radio attached to Kit's waist warned.

Kit cursed under her breath. "Jay, Cloud, Minho, you guys go scan for Guards. Fox, Thomas and I can help set up the bombs."

Eve stuck her hip out, "My bombs, my choice in people. I want Minho, Fox, and Jay."

Jay shrugged, "I'm down with that."

Kit grit her teeth, "Jay is one of our best fighters, Fox too; we need them out with the guards."

"Fine, fine. Minho, Jay, and you… I guess. Fox can go out and deal with the guards." Eve said, examining her fingernails.

"Kit, we don't have a lot of time. Just go with it." Cloud said quietly.

Kit sighed. "Ok, whatever."

Eve smiled victoriously. "Alright, let's get to work."

""""""""""""""""""

Cloud, Fox and Thomas spread out, checking different sides of the room. Cloud drew her bow, notching it with a sharp arrow and holding it at her side.

Her feet fell silently as she walk the dimly lit corridor on the left side of the Cafeteria. She heard the guards well before they even suspected they were getting close to the enemy.

Cloud ducked behind a corner. She peaked over at the oncoming hoard of WICKED drones and pulled her bowstring taught.

 _Let it fly,_ she told her self, and yet, the arrow remained stationary as if her bowstring was glued to her hand. The guards were still surging forwards but Cloud was in a trance. She refused to pierce them with the arrow.

It suddenly occurred to her that she had never actually killed a living, breathing, conscious human. Sure, Cranks were one thing, but these people before her had souls, families, thoughts, feelings. They were humans.

Just as the first guard readied their Electric blaster, aiming it right at the small Vulture, Fox slammed into them with his shoulder, knocking the guard onto their back. He dodged a volley of tazer bullets and ducked behind the corner, pulling Cloud along with him.

"What the hell Cloud?" Fox asked between breaths, yanking her behind the wall.

"I can't kill them. I can't kill a human being."

Fox frowned, then nodded solemnly and placed a comforting hand on Cloud's shoulder.

He looked into her eyes, "Get over it." He whispered gently, "We need to get shit done."

Cloud rolled her eyes. _So much for brotherly advice._

Fox rolled past her and unsheathed his machete. He rammed the hilt into the closest guards helmet and charged at the next.

Her feelings about shooting at another WICKED guard were definitely mixed. She reminded her self that they had taken away her memories, left her and the others out in the Scorch with nothing. They were just kids. That infuriated her beyond belief. But then again, she owed every piece of happiness she could remember to the Vultures. Cloud didn't remember much about her old family, but she was sure they couldn't even hold the capacity of love that the Vultures held for each other. She owed WICKED her family.

"I think I got them all Cloud." Fox called, staggering with exhaustion.

She gave him a weak smile, letting her bowstring relax. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of movement behind Fox. Some one aiming a gun at him. Before Cloud knew what she was doing, she drew her bow and sent an arrow flying into the last guard's neck. The guard, smaller than the rest with a feminine physique, stumbled slightly, clutched at the arrow, and collapsed to her knees.

"Holy shit." Fox whisper. He looked at Cloud, her mouth hung open wide and her eyes shook. "Cloud, I know you really don't want to hear this right now, I get that, but that was fucking awesome. I mean, holy crap! I've never seen reflexes like that!"

Cloud swallowed hard, she couldn't take her eyes off the woman.

'C'mon." Fox said, walking over and grabbing her by the arm softly, "Let's get back to the others."

""""""""""""""""""

Eve liked making the fearless leader of the Vultures cringe. It pleased the young mechanic to see her grit her teeth and clench her fists, forcing her self to keep her cool. Really, Eve just liked to piss her off. The funniest thing was the way her subtle twitch grew more prominent when Eve spoke. Most of the time it was small, barely noticeable even, but as soon as Eve opened her mouth, it was like some one has just electrocuted the poor girl. It was a sick sense of humor, but it was Eve's sick sense of humor.

"How close are we to being done?" Jay asked, handing Eve the third and final bomb.

"About 3 minutes. We need to lay out this line of gun powder after I set this one up and then we're good."

" _We have the subjects. They're a bunch of kids."_ Ross said through the radio, " _But they're safe with us now. We've got guards on our trail, not sure if the know where we are but we need to get out of here."_

"Is it ready?" Kit said, "We really need to get going."

"Not yet." Eve said. She studied the small glass bottle that held the ingredients to explode the entire WICKED base. "Minho, grab the gun powder, will you?"

"Sure thing." Minho called. He tossed her a small clear zip lock bag of fine powder.

"Spread this out into a branch kind of thing. We need it to start from that side of the cafeteria and branch over to each bomb." Eve said, handing the bag to Jay. Eve didn't know much about the Vultures, but she knew Jay was a smart girl. She has a fiery side much like Eve, but had a lot more patience than her. Secretly, the engineer envied that; she'd spent most of her life alone and hadn't ever really developed the ability to deal with other people.

Cloud and Fox jogged back into the cafeteria. The girl looked pale, like she had seen something that made her sick. The boy with curly black hair and slit pupils held onto her arms, just below her shoulder as if he was steadying her.

"How much time do we have?" Fox asked.

"A few minutes."

"Where's Thomas?" Kit asked the pair. They both shrugged.

"We didn't see him out there."

Kit bit her lip. Eve smiled at the sight of the brick wall of a girl showing petty emotions over some boy.

"Alright," Jay cut in, "Should I spark the gunpowder?"

"Maybe we should wait for—" Kit began, but Thomas cut her off. He ran into the room, sliding as he came to a stop.

"Sorry, I got caught up with one of the guards. Are we ready to go?"

Eve noticed how Kit's shoulders sagged with relief.

"Yeah," Eve said slowly, "Let's light it up."

"Radio the others Twitch." Jay ordered. Kit nodded. She pulled out the small radio and spoke into it clearly.

"Broadcast team, we could really use that warning right about now."

" _On it, Twitch_." Ice replied.

Kit tucked the small black box into her waistband.

Her voice was solemn as she spoke, she felt less excited than she thought she should, "Alright, let's blow this place up."

"Hell yeah!" Jay cried.

Eve smirked, "Finally, something fun to do."

Jay knelt next to the line of gunpowder. She stuck a math against the sole of her shoe and let it burn for a quick second. She looked at the others for approval. Kit nodded.

"Alright then." Jay smiled. She dropped the match, "Time to go."

""""""""""""""""""

Two large, metallic doors loomed of the group of four tasked with delivering a warning message to everyone left in WICKED.

"Its code operated," Ice observed, "4 letters just like the other one."

"Try WCKD again," Glue ordered.

Ice punched in the four letters. The key pad beep and blinked red.

"That's not it."

"Try KIDS."

Beep. Red light.

"EVIL?" Green offered with a small smirk. Newt looked down at her with an expression that could on be described as: _really?_

She looked back up at him, goggles resting on her forehead like a second set of eyes. "What?"

"I'm going to try it anyways." Ice said.

Beep. Red light.

"CRNK."

Beep. Red light.

"What about CURE?" Newt suggested.

Beep. Green light.

"We're in!" Ice cheered. The doors slid open quickly, but gave Newt just enough time to see the man holding a Taser Blaster shakily out in front of him.

"Get down!" Newt screamed. He dove to the ground, taking Green with him.

Glue side stepped the man's blast gracefully and swept his legs out from under him. The WICKED worker fell on his back with a thud.

"Tie him up Green," Glue ordered, "Ice, Newt, come help me work the controls. "

The boys ran into the room, scanning quickly for any other WICKED personnel.

"It's clear." Ice stated.

"Then get to work Tinkerer." Glue said, a half smile toying at his lips.

"I thought you'd never ask." Ice dove into the control panel like a 6-year-old boy would dive into a bag of fresh Halloween candy. His fingers tapped away at the thick buttons, pulling up the program to broadcast a message across the whole Base.

Newt looked over to Green. She had duct taped the man's hands together and slapped a piece over his mouth. She had her knife out, but didn't seem to be watching their hostage to closely. In fairness to the girl, the man didn't appear to be a guard, his stance with the gun was loose and his hands were shaky, but still, he was a danger to their mission.

Newt considered hissing at Green to be a bit more attentive, but she was clearly preoccupied flicking through a sleek grey file cabinet. Her eyes darted along labels, landing on one that interested her. She pulled out a thin manila folder and flipped through it's pages.

 _What ever,_ Newt thought, _I don't have anything better to do, I can watch the buggin' WICKED shank._

" _Broadcast team, we could really use that warning right about now."_ Kit's voice crackled through the radio.

"On it Twitch," Ice spoke. His eyes never left the screen as he pulled up a small digital black bar with a thin white line through it. The line jumped up and down, following the noise that echoed through the room.

"Glue, give it a whirl." Ice yelled.

Glue cleared his throat, "Attention all… um… people here," Ice nodded with approval, giving Glue a thumbs up. Glue continued, "Please exit the WCKD base now… because it's gunna blow up. Thank you."

Glue cut the transmission.

"Thank you? Really? You thanked them for letting us blow them up?" Ice asked.

Newt chuckled. Glue shrugged.

"What now? Do we get out of here?" Newt asked.

"We sure do." Glue said.

"Wait," Ice called, "We've got a big problem."

""""""""""""""""

"How much longer is this going to take?" Tate whined.

"I don't know, 10 minutes maybe. They haven't been gone that long." Otto replied.

"What are we supposed to do until then?"

"I dunno Freckles, we could secure the perimeter again."

"We already did that twice." Tate snapped. "We're missing out on all the action, this sucks."

"Hey." Scar hissed as he popped out from around the corner. "Loudmouths, quit your whining and come here."

Tate looked at Otto. He shrugged.

"I guess we follow him." Otto said. He stood up and offered Tate his good hand.

Together they followed Scar and Dante over to the others side of the WICKED base, taking cover behind a large stack of crates.

"What are we doing?" Tate whispered.

"Look over there." Dante said, pointing to a two vehicles pulling up to the door that the others entered the base through. One car was a black pick up truck with two men sitting in the front; the other was a large van with a man and a woman in the front seats. Two other guards stood outside the door to meet them.

"We think they're transporting cargo." Scar explained.

"So what? They aren't really a threat." Tate said.

Dante smiled devilishly, "We aren't going to take them out because they are a threat, we are going to take them out so we can steal those cars."

"Are you crazy?" Otto hissed, "We would risk getting seen just for two crappy cars?"

Scar nodded vigorously, "Yes! We need a way to transport everyone to safety once the bombs in place, those cars are perfect!"

"Plus," Dante added, "Scar and I used to raid WICKED jeeps and vans all of the time. They don't keep high security on tiny cargo vehicles. We're pretty much pros at this."

"I'm totally in." Tate said with a smile, "I've always wanted to drive."

"No. First of all, Tate, you can't drive! You can barely see 10 feet in front of you! And second of all, this is dumb! I don't even have a weapon!"

"Here amigo," Scar said, holding out his scythe to Otto, "I've got my Katana, you can use this."

Otto looked down and shook his head.

"There is no way we are—" He looked up.

They weren't paying attention to him; they'd already begun to charge the group of guards.

"Idiots!" He called. Otto forced himself up and jogged after them, muttering swear words under his breath.

The guards had all gotten out of the cars in order to load something into the trunks. They weren't ready at all, so when Scar reached them, the first one was dead before he even hit the ground. Scar had no problem swiping his Katana straight through the man's vulnerable stomach.

Tate reach next and just barely missed the woman with her axe. She swung again and smashed into her helmet with the hilt of the axe. The woman crumpled to the sand unconscious. By the time Dante and Otto reached them, the remaining four had sense enough to pick up their blasters and fire two quick shots. Dante dodged one easily but Otto's arm impaired his dexterity. As the Taser bullet landed on his side he wasn't even scared, he was straight up pissed.

"Why is it always me?" He asked, throwing his free arm up in frustration just before the bullet planted its self in his skin and electrocuted his body. "Screw… you… all." Otto managed between tightly clenched teeth.

Scar was on the guard quickly. He knocked the blaster from his hand and slammed him into the wall. He whipped around just in time to slice through a guard right behind him.

The last guard standing jumped on Dante's back and wrestled him to the ground. Dante sent a punch to his jaw, knocking his helmet off, but doing nothing to get the man off of him. The guard slammed his fist into Dante's eye socket and the boy couldn't help but cry out in pain.

"Hey!" Tate yelled, "Get off him asshole!" She dove on top of the man and ripped him away from Dante. The small girl picked up the guards helmet and bashed it into his head, hard enough to knock him unconscious.

"Damn." Scar whistled.

Tate smiled proudly.

"Um, can some one help me? I am in lots of pain." Otto groaned.

"The shock will wear off, just don't pass out." Scar said, pulling Otto too his feet. "Let's go drive these babies around."

"Alright!" Tate yelled.

"Don't let Tate drive!" Otto screamed.

"Don't listen to him," Tate told Scar and Dante, "I'm totally fit to be behind a wheel."

""""""""""""""""

"The doors have to be operated manually to function." Ice explained. "We came in through a side door but it can only be opened through the out side or the control room. Any exit has to be authorized by the control room of overridden with a code."

"Could we crack the code?" Newt asked.

"We could try, but I'm guessing it isn't some easy four letter level two security kind of thing, I think it would take about 15 minutes or so."

" _Bomb is set, 4 minutes to clear the base."_ Kit spoke through the radio.

"We don't have that kind of time." Ice said. "I could try to set up a code or a timer or something, but I think it's pretty risky."

"What are you getting at Ice?" Glue asked.

"I'm getting at the fact that some one is going to have to be here to hit this red button, or else none of us are getting out."

"What about the door we came in through?" Newt asked.

"Bloody freakin hell." Newt cursed, throwing his arms up. He looked to Green who was furiously scribbling something down on a piece of paper inside the folder in her hands. Her brows were knitted. A lone lock of curly blonde hair fell from her loose ponytail and hung over her eyes.

"Why don't we get the hostage to open it?" Glue whispered, "We can just strike some fear into him and hope that he let's us all out because he's a good guy."

Ice looked at the time. They had 3 minutes and 30 seconds left.

"Yeah, it's worth a shot." He said.

"Green, you're up." Glue ordered. Foot steps pounded in the hall.

"Guards," Ice said.

"Go take care of them, Green and I will handle this." Newt said.

Green tucked the folder away and nodded. She crouched in front of the man and held her blade close to his throat.

"Listen old man," She hissed, "You better let's us out when the security camera's show that we are at the door, or else you are going to blow up with an empty conscious." Green looked up before continuing her empty and poor threat. Glue and Ice were already out of the room, fighting of a trio of guards. Newt hovered above her, close to the door, tapping his foot and chewing on his lip, arms crossed.

Green stood up.

"What are you doing? Scare the man for Christ's sake." Newt ordered. Fear, stress, and worry ran through his blood like ice water.

"Newt…" Green trailed, walking over to the tall blond boy.

"C'mon Green, we don't have time for this, we have to—"

Green pressed her lips against his. She kissed him, this time it was not like when they were drowning, fighting for their lives. She kissed him deeply and slowly, like they had all the time in the world, like they had an eternity together. Newt didn't fight it. To hell with everything else, he just fell in love with that crazy mystery of a girl over and over again in that kiss.

After a lifetime, Green pulled away.

"I really do love you." She whispered, looking down at her feet.

"I love you to," Newt said slowly, his brows knitted together. _Why is she so sad?_ "Green…" He trailed, placing his thumb under her chin and gently forcing her eyes to meet his. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, creating clean path on her dust covered skin. "What?" He asked, not wanting to know the answer. "What's going on? Green, why are you crying."

She shook her head. "There are so many things I want to say to you. I-I can't tell you everything I want, but I need you to understand. You have to understand that my family means more to me then anything. And you… you're part of my family now." She searched his eyes desperately, "Please, tell me you understand that, ok?"

He nodded, still extremely confused, "Yeah… ok, I understand."

She smiled. For whatever reason, that was a huge relief to Green. She leaned into Newt, wrapping her arms around his waist and breathing him in. He wrapped his arms around her in return, holding her closely.

He kissed the top of her head.

"Newt," She whispered.

"Yeah?"

"My name, its Ira Aelish Richards."

New smiled into her hair. "That's beautiful."

"Don't tell anyone. I want it to be our secret."

"Of course, Ira."

"And Newt?"

"Yes?"

"WICKED has controlled my entire life. I don't want them to control me anymore."

"They won't after today. That's why we need to get going." He said, trying to pry her off.

She squeezed him tighter. "We are going to ascend to freedom today." She whispered.

"Green, are you high?" He asked with a small nervous chuckle, "What's going on?"

"I love you." She whispered once again.

"I love you t—"

Before he could finish, Green ripped herself away from him, shoved the folder into his hands, and pushed him out of the control room. She smashed her fist into the key code panel, causing the doors to shut.

"Green!" Newt screamed, as the doors began to close. The moment felt like another lifetime, a different from the lifetime that passed when they kissed. This one was a life of agony. He stared into her eyes for one last instant.

In her beautiful emerald colored, pupilless eyes, the ones that had drawn his attention, the orbs he fell in love with on sight, she held so much sadness and yet, a twinkle of relief. She knew the others would be ok; it would all be worth it.

"GREEN!" Newt screamed again as the doors sealed shut. He pounded against the metal frames. "Green please! Please!" His voice was beyond desperate.

"Newt, what happened?" Glue demanded. The pair had knocked out the three guards with relative ease.

"Green locked her self in there! We have to get her out."

They hesitated at first, but eventually Glue and Ice joined Newt in his insufferably banging on the door.

"Why would she do this?" Ice asked.

"I don't know," Newt responded, "She was acting all weird and crying and then she pushed me out here and-"

"Oh God... is she going to try to open the door? She's going to kill herself!" Glue realized.

They all stared at each other, wide eyes.

"Green!" They each screamed.

Ice tried punching in the four-letter code again and again but the red light continued to reappear. She had disabled the lock.

Ice shook his head. Tears began to roll down his cheeks.

"What's going on Ice?" Glue asked. "Can you open the door or not?"

He shook his head. "She's going t-to save us." Ice whispered. His voice broke half way through.

The realization that Newt would never see Green again began to dawn on him. "No. No. C'mon guys. C'mon! You've got to be bloody kidding me! GREEN! Green let us in!"

"You guys have 2 minute and 48 seconds." Green said from the other side of the door. She leaned against it, squeezing her eyes shut and praying that they would leave. "Get out," She choked, "get him out. Please." She paused for a second. "And, tell everyone I... I'm sorry… and that I love them all so much."

"No!" Newt cried. He collapsed against the door.

"Newt, please man, we've got to go." Glue managed to say. It was no easier for him to leave her. He was 100% sure some one had just set his heart on fire and froze in at the same time, he wasn't even sure it was beating. But he was going to honor her sacrifice.

"Please Glue," Newt sobbed quietly, "I love her."

Glue nodded, he blinked away the foggy tears in his eyes, "I know you do, I love her to. But we're leaving. Right now."

Ice leaned down and wrapped his fingers around Newt's arms, yanking him to his feet forcefully. Glue grabbed his other arm and together, they pulled Newt from the door, leaving Green behind.

""""""""""""""""""

The two groups, Evac and bomb squad, collided on the north wing of WICKED's base, right next to the main exit. Each person stared dumbfounded at the others.

"Who are those kids?"

"Is the bomb set?"

"Is everyone here?"

But there wasn't time for answers. They had 1 minute and 30 seconds to get out of that base. Luck had been by their side so far, but they weren't going to be able to keep it that way.

"You good Twitch?" Ross asked quickly.

She nodded slightly, "Just fine."

"What's next?" Fox asked.

"We get out of those doors and make a run for it." Jet said, "We had guards right be hind us, so we don't have a lot of time."

"Ok, how do we get those doors open?" Jay asked.

Jet didn't respond. She was stumped.

"Oh my God, We're trapped in here, aren't we?" Jay asked. Jet didn't answer. "Jet. How do we get out?"

"Don't worry about that." Some one said.

Everyone turned to Glue. He and Ice had Newt supported between them. He had no visible injuries, but something was keeping him form standing correctly. His eyes were red and puffy tears fell from them silently. He said nothing; Newt's lips remained sealed shut, but he looked like the breath had just been sucked out of his lungs and he couldn't get it back in.

"Where is Green?" Ross asked.

Ice shook his head.

Ross bit his lip, his eyes felt hot, his fingers trembled. "Ice. Where is Green?"

He shook his head again. "She said that she was sorry. And that she loved us all."

"How? Why? How could you guys let her go?" Kit asked furiously, storming over to Ice and glaring at him.

He met her gaze, his bright blue pupils contrasted in a hauntingly beautiful way against his blood shot eyes. They welled up with tears.

"She sacrificed her self, the doors can't open unless some one opens them manually."

"So she is still alive?" Kit demanded.

Ice nodded.

"Kit, she locked her self in there. We can't get her out." Glue said.

Ross spoke up, "We can try. We _have_ to try." His voice broke.

"No," Ice sobbed. "We already tried. You have to believe me Ross." He was desperate, "We tried so hard."

Kit shook her head. "We aren't going to leave her."

"No, we aren't." Ross said defiantly. He grabbed Otto's gun from Kit and slung it over his shoulder. "C'mon!" He yelled.

"Ross, _please_. Listen to us! We can't get her out of there!" Glue cried.

"Shut up! Shut up!" Kit screamed, "We are not leaving Green! Guys, this is _Green_ we are talking about. She's our sister!"

Ice shook his head vigorously, he was crying so hard it was nearly impossible for him to see. "You guy's don't understand! We. Can't. Get. Her. Out. She locked her self in there! She is going to die in there no matter what!"

"WE AREN'T LEAVING HER!" Ross boomed.

Amidst all the commotion and yelling, Newt's voice broke through everyone else's. "We have to!" He yelled, looking up. He lowered his voice significantly once everyone was looking at him. "W-we have to. We can't get in there. She sacrificed her life for all of us. As much as it hurts, it's the truth. We are all going to leave her."

Slowly, Kit ran her hands through her hair. Her heart felt like it was about to drop out of her chest.

Jay bit back hot tears, she'd never cried in front of anyone else before. She begged herself not to.

Wasp studied her feet. It wasn't that she wasn't sad, it was just that she was 100% sure that the next day she would wake up and go scouting with Green and Cloud just like the good old days. Green wasn't gone. Wasp didn't believe them.

Cloud, on the other hand, sobbed in Fox's arms. He tried to hold her, comfort her and say everything would be ok, but he couldn't manage the words. He couldn't breathe.

"This is all really quite hauntingly beautiful… but no one is leaving here."

Every one turned at once to be met by the one woman that they all despised.

"Ava fucking Paige." Jay spat, wiping her eyes.

"It's nice to see you all." She said slyly. In her hands she held a small combat pistol. A real gun. Not a Taser gun, a real, honest to goodness, kill you with one-shot kind of gun. "Put your hands up."

"There is a bomb…" Kit sniffed.

"I know about your dumb plan!" Paige snapped, "You think I'm some sort of idiot? You all got your way in here, succeeded at destroying this countries last hope, but hell if I let my biggest _fails_ blow up all of my life's work and get away with it. Oh no," She laughed, "You all set the bomb, now you're going to deal with the consequences."

Jet stepped forward, blocking Ava Paige from the others.

"Jet! What are you doing?" Jay hissed, her hands still above her head.

"She can't shoot us all." Jet stated matter-of-factly.

"Jet, you don't have to prove anything to us, just come back here!" Jay called.

It was too late. Jet walked closer to the woman, slowly, assured. She kept her head held high.

"Do it. Shoot me. I know I didn't turn out the way you wanted. But let me tell you something, you're wrong. You've always been wrong. WICKED is the furthest thing from good."

The woman screamed something, but Jet didn't care. She closed her eyes and accepted her fate.

A deafening shot rang out, echoing through the high WICKED walls.

Jet opened her eyes only to see Ava collapse to the ground. Ross held Otto's gun in his hands shakily.

"Good thing I brought this." He whispered.

The metal doors behind them lurched forwards, screeching open. The winds of the Scorch whipped through the building.

"You all are ok!" Tate cried. She motioned for them to come out. The doors began closing just as the last group stepped into the sand.

"We've got to get out of here, fast." Ross said.

"Don't worry, we got that covered." Tate smiled. Scar pulled a large pick up truck over to the much larger group. Dante pulled up in cargo van.

"Hop in everybody." Scar said with a devilish smile.

The Vultures and Gladers helped the younger ones into the cars first, then found themselves seats in the chaos.

"We only have 20 seconds! Drive!" Eve ordered.

As soon as the last person was secured in a vehicle, the brothers stepped on the gas and sped away from the base.

Just like that, they left it all behind.

The people who had raised them, abandoned them, saved them, tortured them, all left inside that one building to die.

 _"""""""""""""""""""""_

"You ok?" Thomas asked Kit quietly.

She shook her head.

"I'm sorry about Green."

"I am too." She said, looking over at Newt. He was sitting in the front seat of the pick up next to the window. Minho sat by his side. He placed a hand on his friends shoulder, but Newt shook it off. He was reading something. Each word made his eyes wetter.

"Do you think every one will be ok?" Thomas asked.

"Eventually… I hope." Kit said distantly.

"Are you going to be ok?"

Kit swallowed. In the back round, a blaze of light ricocheted across the sky. Heat flashed on the side of Kit's face.

"I don't know." She whispered. A tear slipped down her cheek as she tried to block the thought of Green still being in there from her mind. Blowing up the base was supposed to end in celebration. The Vultures had finally put an end to the horror that was WICKED. They were free now, finally, nothing was holding them down anymore

And yet, Kit had never felt so heavy.

Thomas placed his hand on Kit's and squeezed gently. "Kit, I know this is has been really hard. It's going to be hard for a while. But, too many of our friends have died to get us here. We aren't going to give up, if nothing else, we have to keep going for those who sacrificed themselves for us. We owe them that."

Kit nodded; she met his eyes, "You're right. You're right Thomas, it's just… it's so hard. I miss all of them so incredibly much. Saph, Prez, Green, they were my family and—" She choked. Her eye twitched.

"Hey, you don't have to explain anything to me." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Just promise me we won't give up." Thomas's gaze met Ross's, he sat on the other side of the back of the pick up truck, Tate's head was in his lap and Dana rested on his shoulder. He gave Thomas a grateful look.

Kit closed her eyes, "I promise. We are going to find a place for ourselves in this world."

""""""""""""""""""

Newt stared at the small piece of paper over and over again. The file Green had shoved into his arms was her file. It said everything about her past.

Newt didn't care. He didn't read it.

He wasn't concerned about her past. Instead, he stared a small piece of paper, the drawing that he had given to her earlier that day; a girl with big eyes and the world inside of them.

In the corner, scrawled in messy writing, was a note.

A note the Green had written for him just before she shoved him out of the room. She had known she wasn't going to make it out of there alive but she had stayed strong.

She was so brave... and that killed him.

 _Thank you for gluing my pieces back together – Love, Green._

""""""""""""""""""

…THREE YEARS AGO FROM THAT EXACT NIGHT….

Willow Blake sat out side the Base, knees pulled in, head tucked, shaky hands stuffed under her arms, trying to take deep breaths and slow her rapid heart beat. She bit her lips hard enough to draw blood, desperately muffling the sobs that threatened to escape from her throat; she didn't want the kids to hear.

Willow rocked her self slowly. These panic attacks had become a more common thing in her life, something she dealt with on a weekly bases.

What ever was happening to her brain was really taking a toll on her sleep, but the panic attacks weren't because of that. Her mind was deteriorating, she knew that, but it was something else that caused her vision to blur and her body to shake. It was the constant fear that she had regarding her new family. She worried she couldn't save them all, she worried they were starving, scared, in constant danger and on the brink of exhaustion. She worried they hated each other, blamed her for their fate and dreamed of ways they could break free from her care. She knew they were scared, she knew that were afraid of what had happened to them and what was going to happen. When they woke up screaming, she was the one that had to nurture them back to sleep, shoving her own night mares into the depths of her brain. She knew they all depended on her, and it was too much to handle.

"Saph?" A small voice asked quietly.

The dark skinned girl, leader of the newly formed Vultures, quickly wiped her cheeks and took a deep breath.

"Yeah?" She replied, not turning around.

"What's wrong?"

Saph reluctantly turned to face Wasp, the quiet girl with jet-black hair. Wasp never said much, but when she did, it was meaningful.

"Nothing Wasp," she said with a weak smile.

"Saph, you can talk to me."

Wasp was only a few years younger than her, and had proved to be quite mature for her age. She was right… Saph could talk to her.

"It's hard to explain Wasp," Saph admitted, "Just… know that I love you guys, and I worry a lot. I want you all to be happy."

Wasp nodded, she stuck out her hand to Saph, "I think you should see something actually."

Saph raised a thick, dark brow. She took Wasp's hand after a moment of hesitancy and followed her inside the Base.

What she saw melted her fears away in an instant.

The main room was lit with candles and lanterns, casting a warm glow on the kids gathered in a wonky circle. Prez strummed a three stringed, beaten guitar while Tate, Kit, and Fox sang along to the melody. Ross offered Green a hand, and together, they danced around the room in harmony… Green occasionally stepping on Ross's toes. Jay and Fox arm-wrestled and swayed their heads with the rhythem. The others clapped along, laughing and humming the tunes.

They all joined in in the chorus, belting out the words to a song Saph had long forgotten.

"Oh home! Please take me home! Home is when ever I'm with you. Oh home! Yes I am hoooommme! Home is when I'm alone with you!"

Tears brimmed on the edges of Saph's eyes once again, and she cursed her self for being such a chump.

"We're happy Saph. Trust me. Things are good here." Wasp said with a smile, "You've created a family, and nothing is ever going to change that."

Saph nodded.

"Thank you." She whispered.

 _"""""""""""""""""""""_

Please review! I'll update soon with details for my next story!


	25. Ghost of You

Hi. I'm alive. So today I was in chem, trying to work, when I started doodling instead... shocker! So I began to sketch a person, which turned into a girl, which turned into a girl with a big smile, and freckles and blonde curly hair and a nice pair of goggles. Which turned into a girl with a halo over her head and a pair of angel wings. I started missing this story so I decided to give bit of a better conclusion in a creative small "where are they now kind of way".

Update on my next story: things are crazy with my life right now. School seems to only get harder... especially when I don't pay attention in chem... and I just started the Track season. I'm still working out a few kinks in the story, but I'll be taking a break for about another month. I will post more preVultures stories or post vultures stories per your requests. If you want to see something, let me know! Review and tell me what you think.

P.S. Saph's real name is Danielle, last chapter I made a mistake with that, sorry!

∞PARADISE∞

"Things have been… _harder_ since you left."

He stared deeply into the beauty of her green eyes and bit back soft tears. He told himself he wasn't going to cry. He shouldn't be sad. He had worked on this.

He took a deep breath and tried again.

"Honestly, it's mostly just little things. I smile less now. Everyone does. There isn't the usual nighttime chatter once our meal is over or the dopey smile you give when you're confused in a serious situation. No one else is as funny or adventurous or entertaining as you are… or I guess were. But I still am unbelievably grateful for your sacrifice. We all are.

It was a _lot_ harder at first. The morning after you left me, I refused to wake up… I was scared that the sun wouldn't be as bright.

Everyone was on edge. The Vultures fought constantly about what to do next. Some of them wanted to go back to the base, others wanted to move on and start over again; they wanted a new beginning. They wanted to forget the past. Kit and Ross finally decided to make a new camp. We searched for a while, but finally we found a good place. Tommy refers to it as 'Paradise'.

People began to warm up to Paradise. The kids really like it, the Vultures all got new jobs and found their purpose again. We've even found a few other survivors. Minho flirts relentlessly with Eve, Ross and Dana are a flame of romance, Wasp still doesn't speak, Fox and Glue still crack jokes every few minutes and Cloud still rolls her eyes while laughing silently. Kit gets along with Tommy pretty well these days, and Otto and Tate have recovered nicely. We've decided to forgive Jet due to her attempted sacrifice and we have really begun to like Dante and Scar.

Everyone has settled. They've started to smile again.

I wasn't as successful as the others at first. I woke up every night with nightmares. I relived the moment you died over and over again in my head. I cried for you. I blamed you. I hated you because you left me on this Earth alone. Green, I needed you.

It was about a month after your death when Jay over heard me crying at night. I thought I did a good job of hiding it, but she found me. I expected her sympathy I guess, I really didn't expect her to yell at me the way she did.

'Get it together Newt,' She ordered, 'Green didn't die so that you would be come a miserable sack of shit! She didn't stop to think of how you would feel when she sacrificed her self! She did it for us, for her family. She saved your life!'

I stopped breathing when she said that. I was furious. Didn't she know how much it hurt to lose you?

That's the thing I didn't understand before that night. She did know. They all knew. They knew how much my heart was breaking because everyone of them loved you as well. What's not to love?

Jay's tone changed, 'She didn't mean to hurt any of us. She gave us a gift. She gave us life.'

I was being selfish, Jay showed me that. So I pulled it together. I picked myself up and swore I'd change. I started waking up early, eating with the group, joining in on conversations, giving my best at work, even smiling when Fox and Glue would make idiotic jokes. I had to remind my self every day that I was not going to let you die in vain. I would let your legacy live on through me.

It's been six months now since you're sacrifice. Every day has been a struggle. I won't lie and say its all going well or brag about how easy it has been, but I need to thank you for all you've given to me and to your family.

But this isn't really the purpose of me speaking to you right now.

My mind is going. I see you everywhere and I know you aren't here. My skin feels like fire and my eyes are ice cold. I can't explain it, but I know I'm very very sick.

I'm going to ask Tommy to kill me.

But not because my life isn't worth living. You've given me so much.

Thank you Green, thank you for everything.

I'll see you soon, ok? I love you."

"Um…. Newt?" Thomas asked clearing his throat.

Newt looked up at Tommy, his closest friend. "Yes?" he replied with a serene look on his face.

Thomas knew something was different. Newt had been acting strange for the last week or so, it was nothing compared to his upbeat mood that he had kept up for the last 5 months. He was sick, Thomas could tell.

"Are you ok? You've been murmuring at that plant Cloud's been growing for like 30 minutes.

"Oh," Newt breathed, "I hadn't realized." He thought long and hard between each word. "I like that plant you know?"

"Yeah, I do know Newt," Thomas said carefully.

"I like its color." Newt whispered.

"I know Buddy, I know you like the color green."

Newt smiled, "I really do." He looked down. His mind was foggy, nothing really made sense to him right then but he needed to talk to Thomas.

"Tommy?" New asked quietly.

"Yeah Newt?"

"Could you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

Newt sighed, "I need to see her again Tommy."

Thomas's breath caught in his throat. He understood. It wouldn't be easy, but Thomas knew he had to set Newt free.


	26. Not a Real Chapter

Hi everyone! This is not a chapter. This is an update. Sorry! I am updating because there will be a new chapter, maybe several, about the lives of the Vultures during their trials with WICKED. Their real names will be used! I just wanted to let everyone know to expect updates in the near future!

Part two of this update. I miss writing with you all and hearing your comments. I've started my second SYOC (sorry to those of you who submitted to Hidden Trial, it didn't work out). I got a lot of comments after I accepted the characters to Hidden Trials saying things like "I wish I'd seen this sooner" or "No I didn't get to submit!" So I'm letting you all know now, and also kind of asking, if you'd like to submit, I'd love to consider all of your applications. You all created beautifully unique and interesting characters for this story and I'd love to see some like it again!

Comment any thoughts questions or ideas for the next chapters! And let me know what you think about my new story, Please Don't Burry Us.


	27. The Simulation

OMG! WHAT? I UPDATED?! Hi! this is so over due it's crazy. Let me tell you all something about my life, it's extremly busy. I started a new story, it's called: Oh How the Good Die Young and I would love love love if you guys checked it out and let me know what you thought. The best part about it? My OC's name is Green! She's back B*tches! But totally different. Anyway, this chapter focuses on some of the experiments the Vultures faced before they were freed. They are going by there reals names.

Diana = Cloud

Ira = Green

Dani = Saph

Carter = Glue

Preston = Prez

Amir = Fox

Emma = Wasp

Zach = Ice

Everyone else you should know. Let me know what you think! I miss you guys :) I really hope you enjoy!

""""""""""""""""""

The young girl watched the small creature scurry about its glass confinements. It ran from one side of it's cage to the other, sniffing the air and pawing at the clear walls.

Mr. Whiskers was like their mascot. Mr. Janson told them that Mr. Whiskers had managed to survive the Flare too. Mr. Janson said that along as Mr. Whiskers was alive they would be safe.

Around her the generator powered florescent lights flickered and buzzed. Everything else was silent. _Buzz. Blink. Scartch scratch. Sniff._ And the steady, subtle sound of her own breathing.

"Diana? Are you ready?"

The girl sighed. The man's voice was gentle and forgiving, but she knew what it meant. She stood up slowly placing her bare feet against the cold tile before meeting his dark brown eyes with her own multicolored one's.

"Yes sir." Diana replied softly. She wanted to ask if this one would hurt. She wanted to know how many of the others had cried. She wanted to tell him that she was scared.

In front of her, behind the salt and pepper haired man, were the motionless bodies of the 13 kids she'd spent the last year with. Everyday was some sort of trial. Once a week the man, Mr. Janson, would lead them all into the white, tiled room with Mr. Whiskers. One by one he would call them out of the room. They would return unconscious, being carried on a stretcher by two men. They'd be placed on a table with tubes and wires surrounding their heads and spouting from their noses. They slept for hours.

Diana was always called last.

Mr. Janson motioned for her to follow him. She stepped forward methodically, moving with out a sound. Her eyes flicked back and forth to the bodies of her friends as she passed them. They were all so peaceful, but none of them had any idea what the people were doing to their brains.

Diana passed by Danielle, A.K.A Dani, the oldest of the group. Dani had once told her that they shouldn't trust WICKED. She told all of them that they needed to be careful, they needed to be cautious when WICKED put things in their body. Ross had asked what they should do instead. He asked why they didn't just run away. Dani said it was more complicated then that.

Then, as Diana looked at their lifeless bodies, as she pictured her friends crying when the men stuck tubes up their noses, as she heard their screams echoing through her head, she couldn't understand what was so important that it was worth so much pain.

"Faster please Diana. You'll see your friends in a couple of hours when you're all awake."

Diana nodded and hopped forward a couple of steps to catch up to Janson. Her eyes stayed on her friends for as long as possible. At least they were still breathing.

"What are we doing today?" Diana asked hesitantly.

"This is a new kind of trial. We have a new virtual program."

She stared at him blankly.

The man sighed; working with children could be so hard sometimes. "I'm going to tell you what I told everyone else. Everything you are about to experience is not real. Now take a deep breath while Dr. Crawford inserts your breathing and feeding tubes."

Diana's eyes flicked to the doctor. In her hand she held two clear tubes. Behind her was a helmet of wire that would attach to Diana's head. The thought of all of those things sticking out of her… it made her chest feel tight and her hands sweat.

"Diana I need you to breath."

Slowly Dr. Crawford approached her. Diana's hands dug into the leather examination seat, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and cringed as the doctor placed the tip of the tube in her right nostril. She gagged as it slid down her throat. Tears slipped from her eyes and she nearly barfed.

"Almost there, you're doing great." The woman spoke softly. Diana wanted to scream but it wouldn't make anything easier. "Just the helmet now."

She breathed a sigh of relief through her mouth and kept her eyes sealed shut. The weight of the helmet pressed down on her neck causing her shoulders to shrug and her back to ache. Still, she didn't speak. Complaining would get her no where.

"Now Diana, you're going to feel a slight shock. You're only going to see blackness but you are still going to hear us. I need to stay calm ok?"

She opened her eye ever so slightly and nodded to Dr. Crawford.

"Good girl. A.D. Janson hold her for me please. "

There were too hands on her shoulders and then—

ZAP! Her eyes filled with an intense light. She wanted to scream but her mouth wouldn't open. She felt herself collapse against the table but she couldn't see a thing. It was completely dark.

"Diana, we are still here."

Her chest was rising and falling so quickly. Her head swam.

"Diana just breathe."

She could feel the tube in her throat. It was suffocating her.

"Running program Killzone 2 on your cue Assistant Director." Some one said.

Her body was completely limp. Electricity ran through her brain.

"Let's get this started."

She wondered how Mr. Whiskers had survived this.

"""""""""""""""""

Ross didn't remember falling asleep. He was in darkness but he could still hear Mr. Janson. He heard him call Kit's name and assure Ira that everything would be ok. He heard him whisper with Dr. Crawford and get a call from Chancellor Paige, but he must've fallen asleep as some point because suddenly he woke up.

It was dark, but not the same kind of dark as before. It wasn't that there wasn't any light; it was just dim and distant. He pushed himself up right and looked around. There was a loud rushing sound somewhere, like a water fall was close by.

His eyes landed on a figure across from him. No wait, two figures.

"Hello?" He called to them warily. He force himself to his feet and walked towards them cautiously. "Who's there?"

"Ross? Is that you?"

"Yah, who's that?" He demanded in his anything but intimidating, high pitched voice.

"It's me, Amir, and Preston." Amir responded. Amir was the 8 year old with fox like eyes, and Preston was really smart. Both of them had become close friends of Ross's in the last year.

"Oh hey guys. W-where are we?" Ross asked as he got closer. The pair had woken up closer to a light source then Ross, as he looked around he could see more.

The floor beneath them was metal. The walls around them were stone or concrete, it didn't matter, they were at least 30 or 40 feet high. The boys were in some sort of underground cavern or tunnel on a bridge. The sound came from below them, on the sides of the bridge Ross could look over too see a 10 foot wide river of powerful, rushing water.

"What is this place?" Amir asked, standing next to Ross.

"Where am I?" It was Preston this time. He was sitting up, rubbing his head in confusion.

"No idea."

"How did we get here?" Amir asked.

Ross shrugged.

"Have you guys found any of the others?" Preston asked, pushing himself to his feet.

"No one. I wonder if Mr. Janson know we're here." Ross muttered.

"That butt face probably put us here." Amir scowled, crossing his arms.

"Hey, don't call Mr. Janson a butt face." Preston frowned.

"Why?" Amir asked.

"Because Dani told you not to."

"Dani told me not to call him a butt face _to_ his face. But I can say anything I want when that butt face isn't around. He's also a…" Amir looked around as if he were about to tell them both a secret. He leaned towards his friends, "Asshole."

"Amir! Don't say that!" Preston screeched.

Ross snickered.

"Ross? Amir? Who's there? Preston is that you?" A voice echoed through the high walls.

The boys all turned to the right side of the bridge. A group manifested in front of them, only 20 feet or so away. Ross squinted through the darkness.

"Dani?" He asked quietly.

He didn't need a response. The girl was suddenly running towards them with the rest of the group at her heals.

"I was so worried!" She cried as she pulled them all into a big hug. "I though you guys fell into the river." Her voice shook as she held them all to her chest.

"No, we're fine. Just a bit confused." Ross muttered.

"Where are we?" Amir asked as they broke away from the hug. Several other members of the group came and gave them quick hugs and high fives.

"We don't know, the rest of us just woke up like 15 minutes ago." Dani said.

"We're underground." A girly voice piped up.

"Yah good work Kit." Dani said with a glowing smile.

"I have to pee." Tyler whispered with a pouty face.

"Hold it Tyler," his twin sister, Tate, whined. "I don't wanna see your wee-wee."

A couple of the girls chuckled.

"Dani, Amir called Mr. Janson a butt face." Preston shouted.

Dani's head snapped to Amir. "Amir why did you say that?"

"I didn't!" He protested.

Dani gave him a questioning look.

"Ok…" He admitted. "I did. But he isn't here."

The dark skinned girl shook her head, she grabbed Amir's shoulders lightly; "You can't say things like that… _ever_. You never know who is listening."

The young boy nodded. Dani sighed and turned to the group.

"Listen up guys. I don't know where we are but we need to find our way out of this. This is probably just another test. Here's what we are going to do. Everyone grab some one else's hand and I'm going to try to lead us out of this, ok?"

She grabbed Ross's hand. He took Otto's. Otto stuck his hand out to Kit and pulled it away instantly. His face turned bright read.

"I-I don't like her though." He stammered.

"Oooooooooh!" Amir and Carter, a young boy with his finger's permantly glued together, sung in harmony, "Otto and Kit sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!"

"Cut it out morons." Kit spat, grabbing Otto's hand with her right and then Carter's mutated one with her left.

Soon everyone moved on from the "cooties" and their chain was complete.

"Ok. Now stay together and be careful."

"""""""""""

Jay was holding Zach's hand. Zach had really nice, icey blue eyes and was always good at building things. He built them all cars out of bottle caps and mousetraps once. She still had hers in the room she shared with Emma, Ira and Dani, tucked into her drawer along with the photo of her and her best friend, Jet.

They had started off chattering away, but as the bridge lead into dark tunnels, and the tunnels got dark and narrower and the water roared louder, no one had much room for talking anymore.

She was the last person on the chain. It went Dani, Ross, Otto, Kit, Carter, Amir, Emma , Tyler, Tate, Preston, Ira, Zach and then herself. She liked being in the back, but the growing darkness behind her made her heart skip a beat every time she looked back. So, instead, she focused on Zach's blond hair and counted the steps she took.

Dani was scared. Even from that far away Jay could tell. She was standing up too straight, her arms were locked, and her head turned constantly. Jay couldn't blame her. Dani was the oldest and every one of them was depending on her. Jay didn't envy her at all.

Smart for a 9 year old, wasn't she?

"Wanna hear the sounds I can make with my lips?" Some one spat out. It was Ira. She was always saying and doing ridiculous things. "Pfffffffffpfffffffffttbbbbrrrrrrpptttt" She sputtered as her lips vibrated against each other.

"Ira, please." Dani insisted.

The girl shrunk down She'd only mean to entertain everyone else.

Jay sighed. If she had to guess what most 9 year olds were doing, she would guess that they were laughing at sounds just like the one Ira has just made.

Instead she was listening to the roaring sounds of water and… and… what was that? Behind her she heard a noise… metallic groan?

"Dani?" She called hesitantly, glancing over her shoulder into the haunting darkness.

The sound grew louder. It was like a click. A click and then a whiirrrrring noise. _Click click whiirrr. Click click whirrrr._

"Dani?" She tired again. This time the preteen stopped and looked back.

"What Jay?"

"There's something behind us. Listen." She ordered. All 14 of them stopped and strained their ears, peering into the darkness.

There was nothing but silence.

"Jay c'mon we don't have time for this." Dani said with annoyance.

"I promise! There's something back there!" The girl insisted. She ran her free hand through her short, dirty blonde hair.

"Jay we need to kee—"

 _CLICK CLICK WHIRRRRR CLICK CLICK WHIIIRRR WHIIIIRRRRRR!_

Something lunged from the darkness.

It was the most terrifying creature Jay had ever seen.

She screamed for mercy just at the sight of it.

"Run!"

"""""""""""""""""""

Tyler's heart dropped a thousand feet as he glance behind his shoulder to the quickly approaching monster. It was everything he's seen in his nightmares and more. It was the definition of fear formed into a living creature.

Half machine, half blue bulbous throbbing life form. It had some sort of mouth and dozens of metal legs sticking from its body. As it surged forward in a galloping limp it seemed to be in constant pain. It smashed against the wall and snapped metal bars of the cold metal banister. It was a blobish, spider like bull in a very compact china shop. It was an experiment gone terribly wrong.

"Run!" Dani screamed. "Don't let go of each other."

Their feet pounded against the bridges in echoy unison. The chain of 8 and 9 year olds darted forward with all of their speed, ripping through the halls to avoid the oncoming monster.

"This way." Dani ordered. She took a sharp right down another corridor so they were running along side the water, then a left so they were perpendicular to it again. Behind them the creature crashed through the narrow passages, nearly toppling over into the rushing river.

"It's getting really close!" Jay screamed.

Tyler glanced behind his shoulder. The monster was only 20 feet away from Jay's head. In another minute they'd all be snack food.

They entered a dark room with walls on either side. There was no other passageway expect the one they'd just come from. The line halted to a stop.

"Here up here!" Dani cried to the kids. The dim light reflected off of a rusted ladder snaking it's way up the wall. "C'mon, c'mon." She shouted, throwing the kids up the ladder one by one. "

In front of Tyler was Emma. She had pretty long brown hair and strange bug like eyes. She scrambled up the ladder so quickly Tyler nearly forgot it was his turn. "Tyler move." Dani ordered.

The boy stepped aside, shoving his sister up before him. Dani groaned in frustration but quickly pushed Tyler onto the ladder right behind her.

The beast was in the door way, shrieking as it tried to push its self through. It gnashed its sharp spike like teeth and lunged at the kids, hoping to pull off at least a little nibble.

Tyler was up. Then Preston. Then Ira.

It shoved harder. It was almost through.

Zach.

It popped through the door way.

Jay

CLICK CLICK WHIRRRR!

Dani swung herself up the first 3 rungs just in time. The beast stabbed at her legs but she scrambled up the metal bars. As she pulled herself to the top Tyler and Ross helped yank her from the ladder onto steady ground.

She collapsed onto the ground next to the kids and sucked in deep breaths of relief. The creature whined below them.

Tyler looked around. They were on another bridge. This one was more like a beam with a sorry excuse for a side rail. It was only 3 or 4 feet wide and about 15 feet long. It was a story higher than the other cluster of paths , but this one had no other sections branching off of it. It was on bridge. No where to go but down.

A flurry of questions erupted from the children.

"What was that thing?" One of the kids asked.

"What is a monster?"

"Can it get us?"

"Is it friendly?"

"Can we kill it?"

"Are we safe here?"

Dani did her best to answer, but the truth was she had no idea. She clenched her fist tightly. Her eyes shifted across their new confinments.

"Stay away from the edge you guys." She muttered.

Tyler didn't feel like asking questions. He had no idea what was going on and neither did Dani. He pushed himself to his feet. With his hands fidgeting lightly behind his back he walked towards the pretty brown haired girl leaning against the railing away from the crowd.

"You shouldn't lean on that. It's not safe." He warned her quietly.

"None of this is." Emma responded coldly. Tyler pursed his lips, trying to think of a clever response. Emma turned to him; her dark hair was braided tightly behind her head. "Were you scared when you saw it?" She asked.

Tyler nodded. "Were you?"

Emma shrugged, "It's not the scariest thing I've ever seen."

"What is?" Tyler asked, taking a step closer to her. His hand inched along the railing towards hers ever so slightly. Her skin looked so soft.

"I've seen a lot of scary things." Emma muttered.

"I'm sorry." Tyler replied genuinely.

Emma looked at him; her eyes sparkled in the dim cavern lights. "Thank you. It's not so bad anymore."

He smiled. She smiled back at him.

 _CLICK CLICK WHIIIIRRR CLICK CLICK WHHIRRRR._

Tyler's head snapped towards the group.

"What's going on?" Carter demanded.

"Is that the monster?' Otto stammered.

Diana backed into a corner, letting out a soft whimper.

Dani pushed her self to her feet. "Guy's get behind me." She ordered in a shaky voice.

It was the creature. It came crashing up the wall at full speed. It's legs moved in front of one another like a high tech machine.

"We're gunna die!" Otto cried.

"Oh Gosh!" Ira screamed; tears brimmed in her pupiless eyes.

Dani looked behind them; her own eyes darted over the bridge. She was looking for an escape of some sort, but there was none. No other ladder, no other pathway. Nothing.

Dani took a deep breath, she glance back at the kids. "Follow me. We're gunna go down the ladder.." She yelled over the raging water. She lunged forward towards the path that had led them up there.

The creature jumped onto the narrow bridge. Dani stumbled backwards. It stalked towards them slowly as if it knew they were trapped. Its clicks and whirs sounded more like pretentious snorts and laughs.

 _You're mine,_ it said with every step.

It shot forward, sticking it's first spike straight through Dani's heart. She coughed up a glob of blood and collapsed to the ground. Then it caught Ira by her hair and flung her against the wall. She started to scream so loud, a sickening crack silenced her; her neck had snapped. Kit's head was smashed against the railing. Ross was stuck through the gut. Carter had his shoulder sliced off. Blood sprayed across the bridge.

Tyler could only scream and cry and let fear consume him.

But there was a hand on his shoulder, pulling him away from the monster. While his friends were slaughtered Emma drug Tyler to the railing. She smacked him across the face.

"Tyler! It's not real! It's not real!" She screamed, but it didn't make sense to him. What wasn't real? His fear? She forced him to look over the edge as the creature crawled towards him. "Jump with me." Emma said.

"We'll die." Tyler cried.

"We won't. It's not real!" She grabbed his wrist tightly and stepped up on the railing. Tyler looked down. It was a 90-foot fall into rushing water. His heart felt like a stone. Emma squeezed his hand. "Just trust me." She said softly.

He stared at her.

"Ok."

And then he was falling. The world around him was nothing expect wind pressing against his face.

The last thing he heard before he died was "It's not real." And then he jolted awake.

""""""""""""""""""""

Kit sucked in deep, shaky breaths. Her whole body trembled. Sweat pouted down her neck and covered her forehead. Her hands flew up to her head. She'd felt it cave in against the hard metal railing. She felt her heart stop and thick warm blood ooze from her temple. But as she touched it then, she felt nothing but cold sweat and the tip of the wired helmet.

She looked around frantically. Around her the others kids also sat upright, cradling their confused bodies. Ira leaned over her own table and barfed all over the floor. Several others cried and hugged their knees. Tyler looked like he's just over come a heart attack.

"What happened?" Otto asked. He was sitting next to her. His eyes were wide and his face was pale. He looked as if he's just seen a terrifying ghost. "What was that?"

Kit shook her head; she didn't even want to think about what had just happened.

Diana sobbed softly into her hands.

Emma was oddly unfazed.

Suddenly a pair of large, white double doors swung open and Mr. Janson barged through. Behind him came 2 men all dress in black and armed with guns, and Dr. Crawford.

"I'm sure you are all very confused." Janson started off.

Kit dug her nails into the leather-cushioned table. "What just happened?" She demanded through girt baby teeth.

Janson smiled. "That was our newest tech. It was a simulation chamber. You just experienced your second set of trials."

"That was all just a s-semulassin?" Jay cried.

"Sim-U-Lay-shun dear. And yes. We learned so much from that! You all should be very proud for you service to this country."

Dani clutched her heart. Her eyes were glued to the floor.

"But… it was so real." Kit stammered under her breath.

"Yes it was. That's part of what makes this technology so great!" Janson beamed, "No Major Whick and Smith here are going to take you back to your rooms. And guess what? It's movie night." He glanced around the room, ignoring the haunted looks painted on the pale faces of each child. "C'mon then, everyone detach and go clean up. I picked a classic Disney film for tonight."

The two guards came by and helped the children off the tables. They walked towards the door in utter silence besides those who wept silently.

Kit climbed down from the examination table her self.

"Oh and Emma, could I please see you for a second?"

Dani froze, "Where are you taking her?"

"No where important. Just asking a few questions." Janson smiled.

"Can I come?" Tyler asked.

Janson chuckled, "She'll only be gone for a few minutes. The rest of you need to head off to your rooms."

That night no one joked or laughed or smiled. Kit didn't even watch the movie. Emma didn't return to them until 4 hours later. Her eyes were puffy and swollen. Kit didn't ask any questions. None of them did. She just stared at her feet in shock. Her heart beat never slowed. They all had vicious nightmares and several of them woke up screaming. Kit couldn't sleep at all. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the monster stab it's claw through Dani's heart.

Every time she closed her eyes she felt her self die again.


End file.
